Blood Moon Blitz
by RobotSexFalcon
Summary: Marco chases after Star without a second thought... or a first one. Star and Marco begin to deal with the aftermath and recurring aftershocks of a more aggressive Blood Moon, often times at their own peril, or those around them. The two learn to deal with their strange new revelations about their intertwined souls, all while preparing for a final fight with Toffee.
1. Fight, Flight, and Freeze

Green beams of light careened off into the forest, striking far-off trees, nearly disintegrating them. Narwhals crashed through the forest canopy, dancing less-than-gracefully across the silhouette of the dual moons of Mewni. A sickly verdant glow spiked with intensity as a maniacal laugh echoed throughout the otherwise still forest.

" **MARCO. STAR. MUST WE GO THROUGH THIS SONG AND DANCE? MOON COULD NOT DEFEAT ME, AND EVEN GLOSSARYCK NOW BOWS TO ME. WHAT CHANCE DOES THE REBEL PRINCESS AND HER EMBARASSING SIDEKICK HAVE AGAINST ME!?"** Toffee's voice boomed from the small, avian form of Ludo.

Marco crouched on one knee, leering at Toffee. He felt the cold ground of the forest through his ripped jeans, the night air filtering in through the holes in his hoodie. He took deep breaths, aiming to calm his erratic heartbeat. Marco took a sidelong glance at Star, her wand primed for another spell. For a moment, Marco took in everything about Star. Her blonde hair tied in a single tight braid, her oversized sword slung across her back, her white, blue and purple battle armor surrounded by an aura of pink, her blue eyes radiating with fury and her… no wait, his dimensional scissors tucked tightly into her left greave. He'd been running after her since she left Earth in a mad-dash. He'd been focused only on finding his friend since then, but now that he stopped and looked… she was _gorgeous_. Marco shook his head, aiming to finish the fight before ogling his… best friend more. Wait, no. No more ogling, she was his best friend! Marco stood up with renewed vigor and assumed his martial stance once more.

" **HE STANDS AGAIN. TELL ME MARCO, WHAT DOES THIS PRINCESS MEAN TO YOU?  
¿CUÁL ES EL VALOR DE LA MARIPOSA, MARCO?**"

Marco's face softened as Toffee spoke in Spanish. Marco could vaguely understand Toffee's sentence and pondered for a moment what she meant to him. "More than you could ever know, soulless monster!" Marco shouted, eyes locked with the small bird.

A sinister laugh escaped the lips of a devilish grin plastered on Ludo's face. " **VERY WELL THEN. YOU HAD AN INFINITE WELL OF POTENTIAL, AND YOU CHOSE TO FALL INTO THE BUTTERFLY'S TRAP. THERE IS NO SAVING YOU NOW MARCO.** " Ludo/Toffee ascended even higher into the night sky, breaking through the trees, his green aura illuminating the forest for miles.

"Marco," Star shouted, "we've got to go, NOW!" She rushed over to him and grabbed his hand. Green artillery strikes landed all around them, toppling trees and creating craters in the soil. Together they darted through the Forest of Certain Death, dodging carnivorous plants along the way. Toffee glided over the treetops, pursuing the young teens.

"Star! I have an idea!" Marco yelled as they hopped over a collapsed tree.

"No, Marco! No more ideas! You shouldn't even be here right now!" Star said, eyes cast over her left shoulder, watching for any particularly close green beams of light.

"Star, please! Trust me on this!" Marco said with as much confidence as one could muster with a plan to defeat an un-killable, body-possessing villain.

"Marco, I trusted you not to come after me! I trusted you to let me handle this because Toffee is MY problem, not yours!" The young princess cast her eyes downward, the pain of betrayal evident in her words. She'd not meant to spit those words with that much venom, but Marco was in life-threatening danger, she couldn't risk letting him _be Marco_.

Marco squeezed Star's hand and looked into her eyes, still running through the endless sea of bark and grass. "Wait," Marco nearly whispered. "what? Star, let me make it up to you. I don't know why you left so quickly, but I want to make things right between us." Marco let the words flow out of his mouth, unsure what even he meant. _Make things right? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?_ he thought to himself.

Star matched Marco's gaze for but a moment and felt her heart throb. Marco could be awkward and adorable, but Star loved those moments where Marco got that fire in his eyes. As much as the independent warrior princess didn't need anyone to take care of her, she was weak to Marco. He was like the best kind of drug to her. As the battle raged on in the forest, Star quickly weighed the decisions. She could probably make it to the castle before Toffee managed to hit them, but what about Marco? He wasn't going to let this go, now that he had his heart set on it. She could either help Marco with his possibly ridiculous plan or rainbow bunny blast them both out of here.

Time was not on her side though, as a green light exploded not but 5-feet to her left, sending dirt and leaves and bark everywhere. Toffee wasn't going to wait for them to get to the castle, and his aim was getting better with every passing second. Emotions stormed within her heart, causing her to audibly groan.

With a grumble, Star yelled "Okay, Marco Diaz! What is this grand idea of yours!?"

Marco smiled as he took the lead and rushed further along into the forest.

* * *

Toffee soared effortlessly above the forest, launching blast after blast of green magic towards the wayward princess and her 'best friend'. The leaves admittedly were making it hard to aim at the two, and Ludo's capacity for magic was staggeringly small. He knew that it was only a matter of time before his host's body gave out. As he glided, he noticed there was a small clearing coming up, with a large rock-structure in the middle. He smiled wide as he saw his opportunity. The brats would try to run into the cave surely, and he'd blast them before they could even get close. He sped up his levitation, stopping at the edge of the clearing, and began coalescing a large green orb in his hands. He sensed the wand coming ever close to the clearing and he nearly couldn't contain himself. The pulsing ball in his hands threatened to explode on him right then and there, but he used his many years of magical training to keep the orb intact. The wand was now but 100 feet from him, about to exit the clearing.

" **GOODBYE, STAR,** " Toffee said menacingly. However, at the last moment, a rainbow explosion beamed from the edge of the clearing as two figures bounded upwards. The momentary change in course caused Toffee to fire the orb off into the sky, missing the two completely. As the two careened towards the cave, Marco was close enough to deliver a swift kick to Ludo's face.

"Goodbye to you, Tofdo!" Marco yelled as Star and Marco landed right at the mouth of the cave and bounded inside. Ludo scowled as the momentary pain from Marco's kick subsided. Toffee wasn't one to let rage take over him, but Ludo gained power from his anger, and power was something Toffee needed right now. Toffee let the anger flow through him and rushed down after the intrepid couple, vying to eliminate them once and for all.

* * *

"Tofdo? Really?" Star said, giving Marco an amused smirk.

Marco blushed as his hands waved in the air. "I don't know, it just sorta came out!" Marco said, clearly flustered. As a deep emerald glow began filtering through the stalagmites, Marco put his hand on Star's head and crouched down behind a large rock, quietly shushing her.

"You know the plan, right?" Marco inquired softly. He could see Star's apprehension on her face, her previous smile replaced with a frown. Her eyes screamed at him not to do this, to think of any other way, but she responded with a confident nod. She reached into her left greave and pulled out the dimensional scissors, and placed them in Marco's hand. When he tried to take them, she kept an iron grip on them and grabbed Marco's shoulder.

"Marco Diaz, don't make me have to save you." She whispered with a serious tone. A single look into those sapphires for eyes and Marco knew she was serious. She put a lot of faith into going along with his plan, and this time it had to be perfect.

"Don't worry, my princess," Marco said, as confidently as he could, having just imagined this plan not but 5 minutes before. "You never have to worry about me." He smiled as he yanked the scissors from her hands and ran out into the open.

Star sighed with content as Marco rushed off into the face of danger. _His princess?_ She smiled as she thought to herself. _No, focus! Marco is out there!_ She peeked around the corner just as Marco started yelling at Ludo.

"Hey Toffee! It's a real shame you chased us allll the way here because we're about to leave!" Marco shouted as he waved the scissors in the air tauntingly. Ludo snapped his sights on the young boy, staring daggers through his soul as Ludo's eyes glossed over with green.

" **NO! TH** E WAN **D** WI **LL BE MI** NE **!** " The figure shouted, switching between Ludo and Toffee's voices. " **CONTROL YOURSELF, BIRD!** NO, I WILL HAVE THAT WAND!" Marco dashed off behind the rock where Star was still crouched as Toffee argued with Ludo. "LOOK HE'S GETTING AWAY! **FIND THE GIRL, FIND THE WAND!** " Ludo charged off after Marco, fury rushing through his veins.

Marco grabbed Star's arm and began running through the rough ground of the cave, peeling around every rock they could. Ludo was in hot pursuit, barely managing to keep up with the tight turns in the cramped cave environment. More than once Ludo crashed into the walls of the cave trying to keep up speed.

" **WATCH IT, BIRD! LET ME FLY!** CAN IT, LIZARD!" Toffee and Ludo argued after a particularly rough crash with a stalactite. Marco and Star used this opportunity to gain some ground on the monster duo and found a short 10 foot drop off where they could finally enact the last part of Marco's plan.

"Okay Star, you jump down first! You gotta catch me alright?" Marco said as they stood at the edge of the short cliff.

"Yeah, yeah, Marco! Get cutting!" She yelled as she effortlessly scaled down the drop. Seeing Star at the bottom of the cliff with waiting arms gave him a small burst of confidence. He jumped off the cliff, dragging the scissors downward in front of him, creating a roughly human-sized portal on the way down. He tumbled through the air, terrified as he lost his bearings, and fell for what felt like 3 seconds. However, Star managed to catch Marco bridal style and grunted as he landed less than gracefully in her arms. He smiled as they both waited for Ludo to rush through the portal.

"NO!" Ludo shouted as he saw the portal still open. He flew as fast as he could towards the portal, but just as he was about to cross the threshold, he felt his body being held back by some external force. " **THINK WITH YOUR BIRDBRAIN FOR A SECOND! WHY WOULD THEY GO THROUGH THE PORTAL AND NOT CLOSE IT RIGHT AFTER?** WELL I… I don't know? Maybe they were in a rush? **IF THEY WERE IN THE PORTAL, WHY CAN I STILL FEEL THE WAND NEARBY!?** "

Star exchanged a terrified look with Marco for a second when Marco whispered: "Launch me, now!" Star responded immediately and flung Marco in the air with no hesitation. As Marco flew, he twisted his body to do a backflip. He rocketed towards Ludo upside-down and right when his foot was behind Ludo's head, Marco kicked with as much force as he could, forcing Ludo through the portal. He kept flying upwards and nearly hit the roof of the cave when he began falling. He flicked open the scissors and dragged them through the portal on the way down, sealing it shut. As the last tear of reality closed, Marco fell towards Star, who could no longer see due to the lack of the sickly green glow. Marco fell back first towards the ground, and Star barely managed to catch him… only to tumble down a nearby slope. Marco and Star grunted and winced as they kept tumbling down the slope, stopping once they reached the supposed bottom, side-by-side. For a minute the two lay there, unmoving, but still breathing.

"Woops, hehe," Marco said shyly. "Forgot that there wasn't gonna be any light once Ludo was gone. I'm just glad that you caught me St–" Marco began to say, but was interrupted by Star swinging her arm over his midsection and bringing him into a tight embrace. Star gripped his red hoodie tightly and buried her face into his chest. Marco tried to get up to return the hug, but Star pressed him deeply into the ground. He began stroking her hair awkwardly, twiddling the tight braid around in his hands. He reveled in its softness, and how even in the near pitch-blackness, he could feel how beautiful it was. Her armor was warm to the touch, still emitting a soft pink glow.

They lay like that for a while, Star occasionally nuzzling deeper into Marco's hoodie, Marco absentmindedly stroking her back, playing with her hair or scratching the top of her head. If Marco closed his eyes, it was almost like he was at home, snuggling with his woobie. Except Esteban didn't wear battle armor, his bed wasn't made of bedrock, and his woobie wasn't a magical warrior princess from another dimension. But it was close enough. After what must have been 15 minutes, Marco sat up as Star released her death-grip on Marco's hoodie.

"So, Star. Did you want to spend the night in the cave or…?" Marco awkwardly joked. It didn't seem to have any effect. "Because, I mean, I do have camping gear back at the house!" He tried to lighten his tone a little, but he knew that Star had heavy thoughts on her mind.

"Marco just… shhhhhhh," Star said pensively. A silence washed over them like the tide. Marco opened his mouth to break it until Star continued.

"Marco. Marco Diaz. Diaz of the Marco. Mar-co. Diaz Marco. Marco." Star said his name in all sorts of combinations as Marco listened. "Marco, I… honestly don't know what I'd do without you." Her eyes cast downward and to the right, perhaps embarrassed.

"Star, seriously, you don't have to – "

"No, seriously." Star leaned in and grabbed Marco's waist with her left hand and cupped his cheek with her right. Her voice started to quiver as her hands began to shake. "I don't… I don't know what I'd do…. Without you." Star brought her face close, oh so very close to Marco's. Their lips hovered inches away from each other, Star's breath tickling Marco's lips. Marco gulped as he stared into Star's eyes. Despite the low light, he could tell she had tears in her eyes, threatening to fall. He had thought a lot about this moment, if and when it came. Not just the past few days on his crazy chase after Star, but since Star took them to the Love Sentence concert. He knew something was up when he saw the billboard destroyed, leaving a mysterious green glow on it. When he heard her confession at his house, he had desperately hoped that it hadn't been what he thought. He was so scared of losing Star as a friend that he had shelved any feelings like hers after the Blood Moon Ball, so long ago. After hearing her feelings back then, he thought it'd never work. But after her confession… He couldn't, right? It wasn't fair to her, a magical princess to be stuck with an ordinary human like him. Never mind the fact they worked nearly flawlessly as a team or the fun they had, or when she left without any real reason he felt his heart sunder, no. None of that mattered. He just couldn't hold her back, she had to be free. So why did the distance get to him? Why was he only thinking about pressing his lips forward and ruining it all?

Marco gulped again. "Star," he breathily whispered, instinctively putting his arm around her waist. _Stop now, Diaz_. He pulled her onto his lap. _You can't_. His forehead touched hers. _It'll never be the same again_. His breathing deepened. _She's your best friend_. He cupped her cheek with his right hand, causing her heart marks to glow a deep red. _¿Cuál es el valor de la mariposa, Marco?_ She tilted her head slowly. _Everything will change_. He closed his eyes as he tried his hardest to think clearly. Something was begging him to stop, but his mind was filled with fog. _Aren't you forgetting someone?_ He met her lips halfway locking them in a tender, warm embrace. Marco moved his right hand to the back of her neck, pulling her in closer. Star responded with a soft moan, moving both her hands to entangle them in Marco's shaggy brown hair. Star leaned into the kiss, pushing her chest into Marco's. He tried to keep his balance, but the cave floor was slick, and soon his left arm gave out from under him. The two hit the ground, but Star's hands stopped Marco's head from hitting any rocks. As they fell, Star broke the kiss but kept her face close to Marco's.

"Wow, uh… just wow," Marco said, head in a daze, body high on endorphins.

"Yeah…" Star responded breathily. She could feel her cheeks lit up a deep red but made no attempt to hide it. _Marco didn't tell me he was that good at lip dancing too!_ Star looked Marco's face once over. _Oh corn, he looks so adorable when he's breathing that hard. Maybe I'll just go in for another…_

"Star, not like that wasn't… intense, but can we go home now? I think my leg went numb a while ago." Marco looked into Star's eyes, which held some sort of swirling deep red tint. He blinked a few times, but still saw the swirling red, enticing him to just give in to another…

"Oh sure. Surrre." Star made no attempt to get up, still taking in Marco's features. If she tried, she could see Marco's normally brown eyes reflected some ruby red light, but she ignored it. Probably her blushing cheeks right? She dragged an idle index finger down the bridge of his nose.

"Uh, Star?" Marco brought his hand up to Star's cheek, which she rubbed into.

"Okay, Marco. I'm getting up." Star grabbed the scissors from Marco's hand and stood up, keeping her eyes locked with his the whole time. She cut the portal to Earth and offered a hand to Marco. He graciously took it and stood up, feeling his left leg be pricked by 1000 imaginary needles. He grabbed Star's shoulder for support.

"Definitely went numb. Oh man, I hate this feeling." Marco winced as he took steps towards the portal. Without any warning, Star picked Marco up bridal style and carried him through the portal, giggling and grinning all along the way.

"Star put me down! I am not a child!" Marco protested as Star and Marco exited the portal into the Diaz's living room. It was the dead of night and not a sound could be heard in the entire home. Not even Mr. Diaz's usual snoring.

"Huh, that's weird," Marco remarked, noticing the quietness of his home. "Anyways Star, put me down, I'm fine!" Star set Marco down gently and began undoing her braided hair. Marco eased his way into the kitchen to get something to drink before heading off to bed. He opened the fridge and noticed it was surprisingly sparse. There was just a splash of milk, a little soda, a few eggs, deli meats, but not much else. Freezer told the same story, with a few pounds of ground beef in the fridge and some leftover ice cream, which turned out to be mostly empty. "Where is all of our food…?"

"Maaarcoooooo, I'm off to beeed!" Star sing-songed from the living room.

"Okay Star, g'night!" Marco hollered back. Marco checked outside, curious to find any sign of his parents. The backyard looked mostly untouched, his father's sculptures littering the edge of the fence, two lawn-chairs reclined but empty off to the side, and the patch of cacti below his window. Marco gazed up at the night sky and saw one white moon, confirming that he was on Earth. Maybe his parents really weren't home. Doesn't explain the missing food, but he'll get to that in the morning. The adrenaline of a fight with Toffee and the… event with Star started to wear off and fatigue began to set in. As he thought about it, he realized he'd not gotten a decent night of sleep since he first entered Mewni 4 days ago. His body was more tired than he realized. Yawning deeply, he stretched his arms out and turned around to head back inside. As he turned, he swore he could the moon was tinted as red as a rose. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but the moon was its usual shade of white.

As Marco re-entered the house and trudged up the stairs, he heard a lot of noise coming from his room, most of which sounded like…voices? He knocked on his own door, which felt silly, but he didn't want to bother Star if she accidentally went into the wrong room. The door flung open and in front of him stood Queen Moon with a death leer and a grave frown on her face.

"Marco Diaz. Why don't you come in and sit down, next to Star." She uttered with a barely concealed tone of rage.


	2. Consequences

Queen Moon paced quietly in front of the two teens, dressed in a battle armor, quite like Star's. It was a beautiful white and blue assembly, which Marco noticed resembled her normal royal dress. It had separate strips of what he could probably guess was very tough metal. The strips collected around her ankles, and not even one dragged. The armor was clearly made for her. The royal crown was nowhere to be found, and instead was replaced with a simple jeweled headpiece designed to keep out any stray hairs from entering her face. Her hair was tied in a tight braid and her face was nothing short of intense. Neither Marco or Star could match the Queen's gaze.

"Children," Queen Moon said, through gritted teeth. "Where have both of you been this week?"

"Well, Mom, see it's kinda funny- "

"Daughter. Oh, sweet daughter of mine. I don't mean to mislead you, I know where you've been. I just want to make sure you're not in a lying mood right now. Because I will NOT!" Queen Moon stabbed the floor of Marco's room for emphasis. "ACCEPT." She took a quick breath. "Lying right now. Am I clear, Star?" She glared directly into her daughter's eyes, pulling the sword out of the wood floor.

Star's eyes darted everywhere except her Mother's gaze. "Yes, mother," Star squeaked softly.

Queen Moon relaxed her tense shoulders and her face. "So then, tell me Star. What exactly have you been doing since you left the castle?"

"Well, first I figured I would need some armor to fight Toffee, so I talked to the royal blacksmith to see how quickly he could fashion me some armor like yours. I made sure he was going to be hush-hush by giving him 50 jewels. He seemed like he wasn't going to tell, so I let him do his thang… um, do you want the whole story or…?" Star sunk back into the bed, puffing her cheeks out like a frog.

"Continue, Star." Queen Moon said, her frown never breaking, her gaze never faltering.

"Sooooo… hehe, so the guy said he could get it done in two days so I figured I'd spend that time snooping around for some spells, seeing as how Glossaryck and the spell book were… um lost." Star gulped. "I figured the best place to start would be the castle library, so I snuck in and started investigating. I managed to get a few defensive spells copied down, but there were too many guards poking around so I, uh, decided to leave and start trying to find Toffee."

"Alone?" Moon said, staring directly into her daughter's soul.

"Yeah, not exactly something I could go find volunteers for, y'know?" Star joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Hm," Moon whispered. It was subtle, but Marco could see Queen Moon's grip tighten on the sword as Queen Moon stopped directly in front of Star.

"So, uh, anyways, I started beating up some monsters trying to get information. None of them knew much, but then Buff Frog found me. He really helped me out a ton. He led me right to where Toffee was camped out, some backwater temple deep in the swamp. That was I guess, two days ago? I went back to the castle at night and took the armor from the blacksmith's shop and left him a few more jewels. Couldn't be too careful, right?" Marco could see the slightest of smirks grace the Queen's face before resuming its scheduled programming of frowns.

"After I got the armor, I wanted to see if Buff Frog would be willing to spy on Ludo more for me, find any weaknesses, y'know? I know he took you and the High Commission on and wiped the floor with you, but everyone has their soft spots." Marco was quite impressed with Star's attention to detail and planning ability. The Star he knew would have just charged right after Toffee without a second thought. If Moon was equally impressed, she didn't show it.

"So, after a day of intense spying, Buff Frog told me he didn't really find much, but he suspected that Toffee did not have full control over Ludo. I figured if I showed up, I could make Toffee fight with Ludo, and then I dunno, maybe beat him? I just couldn't sit back in the castle and wait for some grand plan to fall into place! What if Toffee had found backup by the time he got to the castle? I had to fight him myself, after all that's what he wanted! If I just stopped causing everyone so much trouble-"

Queen Moon dropped the sword and the tough Queen act and scooped up her daughter in a full-bodied bear hug. Moon lifted her daughter off the bed and closed her eyes. "Star… you have no idea how much we've been looking for you. Your father is still out there trying to find you! I was so terrified the worst had happened to you. Our spies had said you went to some remote part of the swamp, and… You know, we assembled an entire War Party to find you?"

"Really?" Star squeaked out as her mother's hug crushed the wind out of her lungs. "Big deal. Mom, can you ease up a liiiiitle?"

"Of course, sweetie," Moon said with a relieved smile, setting Star back down on the bed. "Now how did you manage to escape from Toffee? I know you fought him, or you wouldn't be back here with… Marco." The Queen said hesitantly, glancing quickly at the young boy, who was idly twiddling his thumbs.

"Well, long story short, Marco showed up and saved me," Star said, playing with her now loose hair. "I was in the middle of fighting Toffee when Marco showed up and kicked Toffee with a super awesome flying kick that was like kerchow! We started to lay the hurt on Toffee, but then he cast some wicked spell that just barely missed Marco…" Star quieted as she recalled the close call Marco had had with the intermingling black and green jets of light. It managed to scrape the edges of his jeans and hoodie, but he dodged it expertly. Perhaps luckily is the right word there.

"Yeah, then we started running through the forest quickly," Marco said, picking up Star's lack of storytelling. "I came up with a pretty stupid plan, but somehow it worked out in the end. Basically, we were just gonna kick Toffee into some other dimension with nothing to destroy. I figured if Star couldn't kick his butt by herself, there was nothing I could do against him. Magic isn't exactly karate, after all."

"Oh, oh, tell Mom about the super awesome upside-down backflip kick! That was _sooooooo_ cool!" Star beamed as she visibly jumped up and down, grabbing Marco's shoulder for emphasis. Whatever quietness plagued her beforehand was now absent.

"Don't worry, I was totally gonna," Marco said as he bobbed his head a little. "I remembered the path we were on looked vaguely like the way to the cave that we fought that hydra-dragon in. I remembered the basic layout of the cave, and wagered we could lose him in there and kick Toffee to some other dimension."

"Hold on, hydra-dragon? That cave is in the Forest of Certain Death, right?" Queen Moon inquired, raising an eyebrow. "When have you two been in there?"

Star froze as she remembered that she met her dad in there as they hunted the hydra-dragon, trying to find Mr. and Mrs. Diaz. Star glared wide-eyed at Marco begging him to make something up, as it was clearly something Star did not want to explain to her mom right now.

"Uh, did I say we? Ha-ha, I meant me, I, alone went there when I was looking for Star! Yeah, that's totally what happened! Star had never been there before! Ever!" Marco's poor lying skills were not doing him any favors as the Queen narrowed her gaze at him.

"I'm going to pretend I believe your lie for now Marco. Continue," the Queen with a sinister undertone.

"Hahaha," Marco forcefully laughed. _May or may not have gotten Star in more trouble now_. "Well, after we led Ludo in the cave, we kinda took him on this wild goose chase. I knew the real Ludo was in there somewhere, and if he saw the wand, we could probably trick him, even if Toffee was possessing his body. He hit a cave-rock on a tight turn, and we cut a portal open off a cliff, making him think we had escaped, but we were actually waiting below. Toffee had us figured out before Ludo could cross the threshold. At the last second, Star rocketed me up in the air and I did a pretty sweet upside down back-flip kick to knock Tofdo through the portal. I closed the portal and Star caught me and then we-" Marco suddenly stopped, remembering the after-events of the fight. He sheepishly glanced at Star who was scratching one of her currently glowing heart-marks.

"And then you…?" Queen could sense the two teens were hiding something from her but had some difficulty narrowing down what.

"We went home!" Star piped up, elbows on her knees with her hands covering her cheeks. "And then I found you here and well you were here for the rest!" Star was significantly better at lying than Marco, but no one really sneaks a lie past the Queen.

The Queen narrowed her gaze at the now quiet teenagers, trying to force an answer out of them. Surprisingly, neither teenager peeped a word, though they did exchange quick glances with one another. A short 15 seconds later and the Queen sighed.

"I suppose I can't make you tell me. If it's important to defeating Toffee, I'll find out eventually anyways. Now," Moon said, her gaze hardening, "What do you think I should do to you two? After all your father and I were worried sick about you Star! Not to mention your parents, Marco. They called us on our hand-mirrors in tears. Did you even tell them you were leaving?"

Marco thought to the night of the party. As soon as he saw Star's room de-magic itself he began moving almost automatically. He threw things into an extra fanny pack of his; food, water, and an extra hoodie before his parents burst into his room. He told them he was going to go get Star back… didn't he?

"I… did? I saw them before I left, so I figured they just knew. They know how much Star means to me," Marco said, matter-of-factly. He didn't even feel embarrassed, he felt it from the bottom of his heart. Star studied Marco from the side, mouth slightly agape, as if he just let loose a big secret.

Queen Moon regarded Marco with a newfound curiosity. She'd heard the things he'd done for her daughter, but to immediately drop his entire life just to chase after her? When he knew next to nothing about why she left? The awkward glances they'd just shared, the boundless trust they had for each other, the amount of time they spent together… it was all falling into place for the Queen. She'd had her suspicions, but looking at the two of them now… she could clearly see it.

"I see… Star, do you mind if I talk to Marco alone for a minute?"

"Uhhh…" Star looked to Marco as if asking if he'd be ok being alone.

"Star, I'll be fine," He said, half chuckling. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered: "But if you hear me yell 'pineapple', please come save me."

Star giggled and drew him into a short hug before releasing him. "Okay Mom, just… don't be too hard on him?" As Star closed the door behind her, Marco suddenly felt much less confident, peeking up at Queen Moon. She was intimidating, and quite tall, even without high heels.

"Stand up, Marco," The Queen said sternly. As he stood, she held that dagger-eyed stare with his eyes. "Look at me, in my eyes." Marco obeyed and raised his face to gaze into her sky-blue eyes. Marco could see Star's features apparent on Queen Moon's face. Her diamond cheek-marks were a passive purple on her face. Just as he thought he was about to crack under her intense stare, Queen Moon pulled Marco into a gentle hug.

"Marco, I can't thank you enough for what you've done for my daughter," Moon said, rubbing the back of Marco's head with a gauntlet-clad hand. He briefly remembered the hug and… more with Star in the cave. "Not just today, but since we placed her under your care all those months ago. She's grown so much more in the time she's been around you. You know as well as I do that the Star that River and I left with you would have charged senselessly at Toffee with no plan beyond revenge. Day by day, you make Star a better person… no, you push Star to be the best person she can be. Marco, I just want to let you know that no matter what happens, I owe you so much more than I could ever repay." Queen Moon felt her heart surge as she poured out her emotions to this young man, this unspoken guardian of her most precious daughter. She'd never asked to be blessed with this gift, but here he was: a teen the same age as his daughter who would traverse the widest unknown abyss in half a heartbeat to save someone who he'd only met not even a year before.

Marco had never seen the Queen so vulnerable before, so her hugging him so suddenly came as a surprise. He awkwardly returned the hug, lightly stroking her back. Was that something you did, even for people older than you? Did she even need consoling? Regardless, he felt the toughness of her armor beneath his hands and idly stroked the back plate of her armor. He couldn't find anything to say to her, even after she spilled her heart out to him. But he tried anyways.

"Well Star makes me better too," Marco said slowly, carefully. "I'm not sure what it is, but Star just makes me want to… try harder. I never feel bored with Star around, and she makes me do things I would never do. Not that that's a bad thing! But, she just…" Marco stopped to think for a second and ask what Star does to him… no, does _for him_. He closes his eyes and the first thing that comes to mind is the kiss they shared not but 20 minutes beforehand. "She just… makes me the best me I can be." Marco blushed lightly as he felt a little guilty saying something so sincere while thinking of something so… inappropriate.

"And that is what makes you two beautiful," Queen responded, breaking the hug softly. "The complementary personalities, the push and pull, it's lovely to meet someone that does that for you, and gives you that in return. Now Marco," Moon said, crouching slightly and looking into Marco's eyes at eye level, "Can you do something for me?"

"Of course, Queen! Anything!" Marco said with a bit more formality than he intended.

"Keep loving Star. The coming weeks will be unimaginably hard on her. She is going to need a rock to lean on. Before you say you don't love her, I saw the way you two looked at each other. I'm not going to ask what happened in the cave because I'd rather _not_ know, but…" Queen flipped her braid over to the other side. "it's obvious that she cares deeply for you too. There may come a time where I'll have to ask something difficult of you and her, so I want you two to learn what it means to be someone's… what's the Earth phrase… other part?"

"Other half?"

"Yes! A delightful phrase I'll have to adopt myself. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to spend some time alone with my daughter. Now shoo." Queen Moon began pushing the red-hoodie clad teen out of his own room. "Will you tell Star to come in please?"

"But that's _my_ room…" Marco grumbled to himself. Star was sitting on the staircase when he came out. "Starrrr, her Majesty would like to speak with you," He said as he bowed in her direction, which seemed silly because she wasn't even looking at him. "Star? Starrrr." Marco walked over and shook her shoulder a bit. Was she really asleep? He stepped down two steps and crouched down to look at her face.

"Pft," he whispered as he looked at her face. Her hands propped her face up as her mouth was agape, dribbling drool on the step. Her eyes were a little peeled back from being stretched by her hands. _Oh, that is too cute_. He pushed her hair over to her right side and whispered into her ear "Pineapple." Her head instantly shot up as she instinctually reached for her wand. Before she could fully stand up, Marco leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Your mom wants to talk to you in my room," Marco said with a smug grin on his face. "We can catch up tomorrow, I'm going to go to bed." He walked down the steps while Star just sat there, heart-marks glowing a bright pink. Star stared at him for as long as she could stand it before turning around, where she was met with her mother's giggling face, a hand placed over her mouth.

"How much of that did you see, Mom?" Star asked, blushing profusely.

"Oh quite enough, lovely daughter of mine. Now come in, we have much to discuss." Queen Moon held the door open for her daughter as Star sleepily trudged through the threshold. The door closed with a quiet clack as the doorknob slid into place. "Now first things first, let me just tell you how disappointed I am…"

* * *

Marco lay on the couch, blanket lazily thrown over him, couch cushions supporting his head. Thoughts raced through his mind about Star, Toffee, Moon, Glossaryck, his parents… it was all so much to take in. Had he really rushed off that fast? To him, he couldn't even remember anything solidly after he saw Star's empty room, just visions of what probably happened. Did he say goodbye to his parents? Was the party even disbanded before he left? Why had he left in such a rush, he usually kept a more level head about big decisions like that. Speaking of, Star had been unusually… forward in the cave. Looking back on it, why hadn't he stopped her? He was pretty sure he was only going to find his best friend, so why did he let her kiss him like that? And why did it feel so… incredible? It never felt like that with… Jackie. _Oh no. Did I ever break up with Jackie!? Oh god, MARCO DIAZ, you idiot!_ Marco felt his heart sink as he came to terms with the fact that he and Jackie were dating, and he had done… things with Star. Something wasn't right, Marco would never do that, he'd never cheat on someone! And he'd definitely returned Star's affections too, so he couldn't even claim it was one-sided, not like he'd do that anyways. He tried to find his phone, but realized it must be somewhere in his room. His heart felt heavy as the gravity of what he'd done with Star hit him all at once.

And yet all he could think of was how intense that kiss in the cave felt, bathing in the red glow of Star's heart-marks, feeling her hand rake through his hair, her weight pressing him down into the smooth floor, her hypnotic gaze threatening to enthrall him right then and there. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see is Star's face and the guilt mounted, higher, higher pressure begins to become too much and he cries. He turns over into the cushion and he cries. The tears loose themselves from his eyes by the tens. Marco sobs into the cushion, disappointed and ashamed of himself. How could he? The self-deprecation doesn't end, as Marco digs himself deeper into his hole of self-hate. He tries to fall into a comfortable rhythm of falling asleep with tears streaming down his face. He lets the sobs continue until his body decides the torture is momentarily over. He takes deep breaths and closes his eyes, focused on tricking his body into falling asleep, slowing his heart rate down, keeping his eyes closed and focusing on nothing. It isn't easy, but his recent karate lessons have taught him the basics of meditation, and soon enough he's able to use his grief to focus on the goal of falling asleep. He drifts off into the lands of dreams, where the him of tomorrow will deal with the problems he caused today.

* * *

"…and I think that about covers everything, Star. Are you still listening?" Queen Moon inquired.

Star's eyes were nearly about to surrender to sleep when she pried them open. "Yeah, Mom," Star said, yawning deeply. "Toffee is no joke, I worried you and Dad to the ends of Mewni, you're kind of proud of me for not just charging in, I need to get better with magic and need to learn to control or use my emotions. Did I miss anything?" Star didn't mean to sound so rude, but after an intense 4 hours of fighting, running and worrying about Marco, she was ready for sleep to take over.

"Well then," Queen Moon sighed, "I have something… uncomfortable to talk to you about." Queen Moon rubbed the bridge of her nose as she sat down next to Star. Queen Moon grabbed Star's hand as she softly looked into her daughter's eyes. "Star… what do you think about Marco?"

"He's the best friend I've ever had," Star answered, more passionately than she intended. "I mean, not like I don't like Pony-Head, but Marco's awesome. He always has my back when we fight Ludo's monsters, and he never judges me when I do… Star things." She awkwardly chuckled. "Why do you ask, Mom?"

"Star, I'm not going to ask what happened in the cave after Toffee, cause I'd-"

"Woah-ho-ho, _mamacita_. Where is this conversation going?" Star's eyes widened as they darted around, trying to find purchase on something to stare at. Her eyes found her own reflection in Marco's mirror, where she noticed her cheeks were still slightly glowing a light pink. _Still? I'm not_ that _deep into Marco, am I?_

"Star, relax. Normally I wouldn't even bother bringing it up, but given the serious nature of who you're fighting…" Queen Moon trailed off, her own memories of Toffee racing through her mind. "Star, do you know why I'm so powerful?"

"I dunno, you're Moon the Undaunted?" Star said, hazarding a guess.

"I see you found my tapestry… yes, but do you know why I was called the Undaunted?"

"Because you mastered the art of the death glare?" Star joked, receiving the trademark glare from her mother. "Okay, okay, why?"

"Your father," Moon said sincerely. "I mentioned before how the wand is inherently tied to your emotions, correct?" Star nodded. "Well Toffee was threatening to lead the monsters on a revolt on the castle, and your father gave me power beyond what I knew. His fire against Salisbury, his anger against the monsters, his love for me… it was all so genuine that when I saw Toffee, I used his feelings to cast that spell which still haunts Toffee to this day. Star, what I'm trying to say is that Marco is important to you now, but if you let your bond grow, it's very possible that the two of you may be able to finally defeat Toffee. To finish what I started."

Star stared awestruck at her mother, trying to remember the last time Queen Moon had been so genuine with her. "So…" Star began, trying to process what her mom and just told her, "Marco loves me…?"

Queen Moon huffed a heavy sigh and placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, brushing her hair out of the way. "Star, have you talked things out with Marco yet? I don't want to assume, but I figured if he went after you so recklessly, he must love you, right?"

"Well we haven't really had a chance to actually talk, seeing as how we just got back, but yeah, he's got to, right? I mean he just straight up k-" Star clamped a hand over her mouth. "Kicked a soul-possessing monster in the back of the head with no regard, that's gotta mean something, right? Hahaha!" Star finished, nearly letting loose her secret that she and Marco kissed in the cave.

"Look, Star… Marco definitely cares for you, but you should make sure he wants to be in a more serious relationship with you. Because if you do decide to become… more involved, what's going to come next for both of you will not be easy, and you both need to be ready to face it together. Do you understand Star?" Queen Moon softly gazed into her daughter's eyes.

"Yes, Mom. I'll talk to Marco in the morning." Star marveled out how her mother and she were having this conversation. It felt bizarre to her, that the Queen Moon would be so interested in her personal relationships, even if it were intrinsically tied to defeating what may be the greatest threat to the Butterfly family line in a long time. It felt even weirder to have her mother give her advice on this subject, seeing as how she'd never done anything like it before. Although, with Star only dating one other person, there wasn't many chances to offer advice.

"Okay," Queen Moon squeezed her daughter's shoulder. "Last thing before you go to bed, you and Marco haven't been engaging in any unprotected magic rituals, have you? You know how seriously we take those."

"Ew, Mom! No!" Star shouted, giving her mom a grimace. Just as she said no, she thought back to the Blood Moon Ball. _Unless a, uh, once-in-a-667-years demonic soul-binding ritual counts._ Star began scratching her neck and looking away slowly.

"If you say so Star," Queen Moon grumbled with a sigh. She was certain Star was hiding something else, but fatigue had begun to wear down the Queen. "Get some sleep. I'm going to send some Royal Guards to protect the two of you. If you wake up before the Diaz's get here, let Marco know his parents are coming home." Queen Moon stood up and retrieved her pair of dimensional scissors from her left greave and made a cut.

"You got it, Mom!" As Moon left, Star flopped on the bed. After a brief moment of respite, she tapped herself with her wand and changed out of her battle armor and into her normal sleeping outfit. She crawled under the covers and sighed. Breathing in deeply, she could vaguely smell Marco. _Well, this is his bed, I guess._ Now aware of this knowledge, she grew a little uncomfortable, but at the same time snuggled deeper into the two pillows. She gripped her wand tightly and slid it under her pillow… _his_ pillow.

Star thought aimlessly to herself. _Marco does like me, right? I mean love, that's a... strong word. But I mean friends don't just charge headlong after friends. I would for Marco, and Marco would for me. That's what matters. Probably._ She shifted around, when her arm hit something stuffed under the pillow. She recoiled, but grabbed it and pulled it out and revealed a stuffed Earth animal. _Marco's snuggle-buddy. So cute!_ Star pulled the stuffed creature close into her. She sighed with a smile on her face as Marco's face danced across her mind, the feelings she had for him playfully elating her heart. Soon she was escorted to the land of dreams. Mysteriously absent from Star's thoughts as she dreamt was the name of a blonde-haired lady with a signature teal-streak of hair and shell necklace.

* * *

Ludo screamed as he exited the dimensional portal. He scrambled to his feet and ran back towards it, but just as he was about to cross the threshold again, it closed right in front of him.

"NOOOOOO! THE WAND!" Ludo screamed as he pounded his fists into the cold, stone ground. "LIZARD, COME OUT, WHERE ARE YOU! I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE!" Ludo shouted as he pounded his head, but no response came. "DON'T IGNORE ME!" Ludo waited a few seconds, but silence still enveloped his mind. "I know you can hear me Toffee. I give you permission to possess me again, if you can get us out of here." No response.

Ludo sat on the ground. _This is just like after Toffee made Star Butterfly blow up her wand. No food, no friends, no wand._ Deciding to rely on his instincts, he began observing his surroundings. He sat on a stone floor, which looked like was at the bottom of a jungle. The stone sloped gently down to what was probably a cliff. On either side, two small streams of water flowed. Now that he noticed it, he was sitting on a raised portion of stone. Looking behind him he saw an unimaginably tall stone wall, sloped as to resemble a bowl. It was warm outside, but there were no moons in the sky. Stars, sure, but none of them looked like anything he had seen before. Carefully, he stepped into the jungle that flanked the sloped portion of stone. After some brief trekking he found a hollowed-out tree that would serve as an adequate shelter for the night. He threw some leaves over himself and leaned into the back of the tree.

"Star Butterfly, Karate Boy. I will find you, and the wand will be mine. Mark my words." Ludo uttered to himself, as menacingly as he could.


	3. Complications

Marco groaned as he woke up, shielding himself from the rays of light entering the living room. Despite the relative comfort of the couch, he hadn't slept well. Plagued with guilt and stress over what he'd done, his dreams had been nightmares, and he'd woken up frequently throughout the night. Resigning himself to no more sleep, he grunted as he sat up, his muscles sore from the strenuous exertion he put them under yesterday. He stood up, shaking the blanket off and began to stretch. He started from the top, rotating his neck to iron out all the cricks he found. He squeezed his hands into tight fists and slowly released them, reaching up to the ceiling. He brought his left arm across, stretching his triceps and traps. He repeated the motions on his right arm. He began his leg stretches in the middle of the living room, being tender with his quads and calves.

Sitting down, he closed his eyes and began a short breathing exercise. He placed his hands on his knees and breathed in through his nose, out through his mouth. He focused his eyes on the nothingness in front of him, quieting his troubled mind somewhat. Steadily, he allowed himself to think of a single color. Orange came to mind first. What was orange? Orange juice _breathe_ , sunsets _breathe_ , pumpkins _breathe_ , carrots _breathe_ , carrot cake _breathe_ , Monarch butterflies, Star Butterfly's lips… _Marco. Focus, breathe._ What else is orange? Cheetos _breathe_ , orange Dreamsicles _breathe_ , habaneros _breathe_ , traffic cones _breathe_ , candy corn _breathe_. _And breathe in, and out_. Marco opened his eyes, much more relaxed than when he started.

As he stood up and stretched out his back, he looked around for any sign of his parents or Star. Everything was as he remembered it last night. Still somewhat exhausted, he opted to have some scrambled eggs for breakfast. As he zombie-walked into the kitchen, he saw 2 tall men in full sets of knight's armor flanking the house's back door. He instantly tensed up and began to formulate a plan. He was going to open the door and punch one in the face and kick the other and then-

"Oh, good morning, sir Marco!" A warm voice said from Marco's immediate right. Instantly responding Marco lashed a fist out to his right, only to meet impossibly tough metal. He instinctually grabbed his right hand, wincing at the pain. He jumped to the left, assuming a low martial stance, both legs bent and his good palm extended out in front and open. A 6-and-a-half-foot tall, rotund man stood clad in a set of white plate armor with a halberd in his right hand and a friendly left hand extended in front, seeking a handshake.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my house!?" Marco yelled, his voice cracking halfway through.

"Oh no, the good princess didn't tell you, did she?" The large man bowed, his voice booming. "My deepest regrets for alarming the current master of the house so early on this fine morning." Marco held his gaze with the man's visor, which was firmly closed at the moment. Did he detect an English accent in there somewhere?

The man lifted his visor and promptly saluted. "My name is Clarence Stormwater, and I'm the head of the guard for the Butterfly castle. Queen Moon Butterfly kindly asked us to guard the young princess and her friend, Marco Diaz. Although she was not specific, I can only guess that it must have something to do with the recent threat on the Magical High Commission. I've heard so much about you Marco!" Clarence stepped forward, hand still extended.

Marco hesitated. He was in no shape to fight this man, but if he had meant harm on him or Star, why go through the trouble of making up such an elaborate tale? Marco decided to trust the man for now. Marco grabbed Clarence's gauntlet and shook.

"What are you doing, Sir Marco?" Clarence asked, a tone of offense tinging his words.

"Uh, shaking your hand?" Marco responded, clearly confused.

"Oh yes, I've heard of this Earth custom! I'm sorry, I often forget we've little knowledge on each other's culture. So, THIS is a hand-shake. What does one do during this 'hand-shake'?"

"Well, you just sort of grab the other person's hand like this…" Marco took Clarence's oversized gauntlet into his hand and began moving it up and down. "…and you just sort of move it up and down. Not too quickly, not too slowly. The grip strength is also important because you need to find the happy middle ground, making sure to show your strength without crushing the other person's hand, as it's considered rude…" Marco continued explaining as he mentally took a step back, realizing he was explaining how to shake someone else's hand. To an interdimensional alien who was a foot taller than he and looked a lot like a human, with his red beard, fair skin, and green eyes. Ridiculous might be the best word to describe the situation.

"…and that about covers it, Clarence. Any questions?" Marco beamed proudly, having experienced a familiar feeling of exhibiting part of one's culture to someone else. It made him take pride in the small things that make him who is. Or something.

"No, sir Marco, that was very enlightening!" Clarence stood tall and smiled wide. "Would Sir Marco like a short demonstration on the proper Mewni greeting? It only seems fair."

Marco playfully thought it over in his head before bowing before Clarence. "Of course, teach me."

"I'm hardly deserving of a bow from _the_ Sir Marco, but if you would be so kind as to copy my motions." Clarence again outstretched his left arm straight in front of him. Marco copied him, diligently following along. Marco considered Clarence's tone to be somewhat formal, calling him _the_ _Sir Marco_ , but he brushed it off as a quirk of the man's personality and position. Clarence reached for Marco's inner arm, right at the elbow joint. Clarence turned his arm over so it was on top, then turned it over 180 degrees so that Marco's arm was on top. He then reached with his other hand and tapped the side of Marco's and his arm. He then nodded slightly with a smile and released Marco's arm.

"And it is that simple, Sir Marco!" Clarence gave a toothy grin as he chuckled heartily. "You are an excellent student! Now a short list of things: this handshake is usually good for any social situation, to be primarily used between two males, and it is an unspoken rule that the taller male rotates his arm on top first. Is it clear?"

"Yes, Sir Clarence," Marco responded with a smirk and a slight bow. "Now I can say I know Mewnian and Earth handshakes. Speaking of, what do you call a Mewnian handshake?"

"Ah, of course! How careless of me. It is traditionally known as 'The Mewman's Arm-Pact', although the common phrase is simply 'anchor arm'. Don't ask me where the name came from."

"Interesting," Marco remarked, peculiarly intrigued at the name. "Then Clarence, I'm going to fix up some breakfast, and as thanks for sharing your 'anchor-arm' with me, would you like some Earth breakfast? I make some decent scrambled eggs." Marco wasn't sure why, but he liked Clarence. Perhaps it was just taking his mind off the impending doom the rest of the day inevitably held.

"I would, Sir Marco, but it's not within my power to ask you to cook for me. However, if you so happened to have any leftovers lying on the table after eating your fair share, I believe they might go missing," Clarence said with a wink.

Marco smiled in response. _What a charmer_. "I'll go see if Star wants any, then I'll get started."

Marco walked slowly across into the living room and now noticed two more guards posted out front, and another 2 patrolling his side-lawn. _Tight security, even for the royal princess_. Marco stepped up the stars where he noticed two more guards posted outside of his door, with suits of armor identical to the captain. _Why are they outside_ my _room?_ Marco walked up to the guard on the left, who stood about half a foot taller than he.

"Hey, is Star in my room?" Marco guessed, hoping he'd be wrong.

"Aye, she is. You Marco?" The guard responded, sounding very gruff and exhausted.

"Yep. Can I get in my own room?" Marco asked, annoyed. The two guards exchanged a brief look before the left guard nodded. They stepped aside. Marco grabbed the doorknob, ready to bust into his own room, but stopping himself. He knocked on the door with his free hand lightly.

"Star? Can I come in?" Marco said softly, through the door. He waited a few moments, listening intently for any response. When none came, Marco knocked harder. "Star? I'm gonna come in, I need a few things from my room." No response still. Marco sighed. _I hope she's at least decent_. Marco twisted the doorknob slowly and gently pushed, keeping his eyes barely open. Soon he was inside the room, surveying for any sign of Star. Star lay completely passed out and sprawled across his bed, with the covers tossed about chaotically. Star's mouth lay open, her eyes covered with her turquoise eye-cover. Her hair sprawled out beneath her, beautifully framing her less-than-princess-like expression. In her left arm, she cradled Esteban tightly, her right arm loosely gripping her wand. _It's kind of annoying that Star's snuggling with Esteban… but I suppose I can look the other way._ Marco quietly closed the door behind him, not wanting to wake her.

Marco couldn't help but smile at Star, looking peaceful in his bed. He turned his eyes away as he sought out his phone and charger, as it was undoubtedly dead from not being charged for a week. He moved slowly, quietly and efficiently, trying to remember where he might have left it. Normally he kept it on his end table, but since he couldn't see it there, he thought it best to search his whole room. Wasn't in the trunk, nor the closet… maybe in one of his other pairs of pants? He hated not being able to remember where things were. Normally he was incredibly organized, but he wasn't exactly normal when he left after Star. Thinking about it just returned his memory to Jackie and how he was going to have to hurt her later. He stared at his dirty laundry, getting lost in thought again. _I need to find my phone. I need to sort things out with Jackie before it eats me alive._ He'd checked all his pants, not there either. He was sure he left it here, as it wouldn't have worked on Mewni. Trying to reason with a past self that is and isn't you is… disorienting, to say the least.

 _Ok, if not on the end table, not in my pants… did I chuck it on the bed at the last second?_ Marco glanced over at the sleeping princess currently passed out on his bed. _I guess if I'm reeeeaally careful, I can check?_ Marco tiptoed over to the left side of the bed and gently stuck his hand in the crevice between the bed and the wall. He couldn't see anything, but after a brief feeling search, he concluded it likely wasn't there. He very gently put his hand under the pillow and felt around for a bit. His face was now only a few inches away from Esteban. Suddenly Star began moving around in her sleep and swung her body to face Marco, nearly hitting him in the face with her wand. Marco froze still and held his breath as he checked to make sure Star didn't wake. A tense few seconds passed. After a small snore from Star, he released his breath and slowly retracted his hand and tip-toed to the other side of the bed. Reaching under the now vacant pillow, a brief search revealed his phone to him. Marco still couldn't find his charger, but remember he kept a spare under the bed in a shoebox. After pulling out the spare, Marco reasoned that Star could be in his room a while still. He moved to grab a change of clothes and his favorite red and blue towels, in case he wanted to take a shower before the princess woke up, all the while still moving quietly. He grabbed the items and stealthily exited his own room.

 _Sneaking around my own room as Star sleeps in my own bed… what is the world coming to?_ Marco tossed all the items on the couch and moved to the kitchen where Clarence was nowhere to be found. _Oooookay then, guess he'll just get some when he's ready._ Marco put on an apron and pulls out all 7 eggs and what was left of the milk. No cheese in the fridge, so salt and pepper would have to be his flavor palette. Marco set the pan out and put some butter in, turning on the burner. Marco worked quickly, whisking the eggs in a mixing bowl and adding a splash of milk in. _Yellow like the sunrise_ , idly remembering the advice his father gave him the first time they made eggs together. Once the consistency was liquid enough, Marco swirled the pan to coat the bottom with butter. Once the pan was hot enough, he poured the eggs in, quickly cooking them.

"Eggs are ready if anyone wants them!" Marco called out to mostly no one. He plugged his phone into the wall and set it face-down on the counter. He took a plate of eggs and a fork and sat down at the table. It still looked like morning outside. He closed his eyes for a moment and took in the smell of the eggs, the warmth of the sun hitting his left side through the window, the calm and quiet of a nearly empty house and smiled. It was a nice moment of peace that Marco realized he sorely missed.

Which is why Marco nearly burst out in laughter as Star came barreling through the kitchen, frantically searching for something.

"Morning, Star," Marco said, his voice muffled, mouth full of eggs. "Looking for something?"

"Oh yeah, haha," Star said, voice dripping with nervousness. "Have you seen your phone anywhere nearby?"

"Yeah, it's on the counter charging," Marco stated nonchalantly. "Need to call someone?"

Star rushed over to the phone and held it up to Marco. "What does this symbol mean  
Marco!?" Stay yelled frantically. On the screen was an image of a hollow battery, filled only a little bit with green.

"Oh, that's means it's charging while it's turned off. My phone probably died while I was in Mewni, so I'm charging it. Is something wrong Star?"

Star's eyes darted around as she fidgeted nervously with her hair. "No, no, no, just… how do you turn your phone on?"

"Star that's not good for the battery. I try not to use my phone too much if it's on the charger." Marco saw Star visibly cringe as he spoke.

"Yeah, yeah Marco, but can you pleeeeaaase tell me how to turn it on?" She groaned, getting louder at the end for effect. She gave Marco the best puppy-dog eyes she could.

Marco stared at Star for a few seconds, watching her practically jump up and down before deciding it wasn't worth it to keep arguing. "It's the button on the left side. Hold it in for a few seconds and it'll turn on."

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou Marco!" Star said as she waited for the device to power up, shaking the phone. Marco watched as the bubbly princess frantically tapped the screen on his phone, unclear as to what she was doing. Was she trying to call someone? That's an awful lot of taps for a 10-digit phone number… Star yelped and covered one hand with her mouth as she stared at the screen in apparent disbelief. She redoubled her efforts, launching an entire index finger assault at the screen.

"How can there be this many?!" she not-so-silently whispered. Curious, Marco started to walk over to Star and investigate what exactly she was doing with his phone.

"Marco! Nononononono, stay over there!" Star menacingly grumbled, pointing her free hand at Marco.

"Star? What is going on?" Marco began to get suspicious and walked closer to Star who started waving her hand at Marco.

"Do not come any closer!" Star shouted as Marco continued to walk towards him. "Marco! No, you can't see!" Marco was now within grabbing range of his phone and began reaching for it. "Marco Diaz! Stop!" Star began twisting her body to keep the phone out of reach of Marco.

"Star, I just want to see what's going on! Why are you being so weird about this?" Marco said with a tone of worry as his longer arms quickly found purchase on the phone. Star began yanking and pulling on the phone, determined to keep it out of Marco's hands. She knew she could just rip it away from him, but she didn't want to break his phone… or his wall. Marco eventually got enough grip on the phone to pull it down to waist height.

"Star Butterfly, whatever it is, I promise I won't freak out okay? So please just show me?" Marco said calmly to Star, trying to ease the frantic Butterfly's worries.

"No Marco, it's weird!" Star said worryingly. "And I thought it was a dream, but it wasn't and now I'm like totally embarrassed about it and I'm so afraid you're gonna think I'm a super weirdo and-"

Marco interrupted her rambling with a one-armed hug and snaking his left leg behind her right. "Star, I know that no matter what, I'm not gonna think you're a super weirdo," Marco said softly, his mouth right next to her ear. He pulled away and stared into her eyes, trying to communicate a level of trust. "I don't need to tell you you're the coolest girl I know, so let me see what's got you so worried."

Star groaned as she loosened her grip on the phone. "Okay Marco," Star said reluctantly. "But, but before you look, just know that I have a super legitimate reason… probably." Star let go of the phone and brought her hands up to her face, covering her eyes.

Marco lifted the phone up and looked at the screen. It was a little dim, so he slid the top menu down and manually adjusted the brightness. Past the phone, Marco could see Star peeking through her hands at him. _Cute._ When he slid the menu back up what he saw were… possibly hundreds of pictures of Star in his room. Selfies mostly, but occasionally a picture of some random part of his bedroom. In each selfie, though, Star gazed at the camera with an almost otherworldly seduction. Marco gulped and unconsciously licked his lips. If he looked closely, he could see some red in Star's otherwise crystal-blue eyes. As he scrolled down, there was no end to the variations and poses which Star did. Star giving a peace sign, biting her lips, hand through her hair, biting her fingers, above-angle shots, side-angle shots, below-angle shots, hand running down her neck, full-eyed seductive gaze, half-open glazed-over eyes, standing, sitting on the bed, a few on the roof, and much more. Marco for some reason couldn't look away, even as he felt Star squirm against the counter. He could feel his breathing deepen, and some sweat starts to form on the back of his neck. Seeing all those pictures reminded him of last night, while he was trying to fall asleep. Every time, he just saw Star's hypnotic eyes, begging him to find her.

"Marco, would you quit looking at them!" Star yelled as the silence became too much for her to bear. "I told you they were weird, and now you think I'm some sort of weird freak who takes a bajillion photos of herself on someone else's phone!"

Marco snapped out of his temporary trance as he heard Star's voice. "Star, first off…" Marco breathed in deeply as he chose his next words carefully. "Those were… mesmerizing. I can understand why you'd be embarrassed, but… I think we need to talk about a few things."

"Yeah, I was kind of hoping you'd say that," Star said shyly. _Mesmerizing? That's not what I was expecting,_ Star thought to herself. Star grabbed Marco's hand and led him to the dining table where they both sat down next to each other.

Despite the mutual agreement to talk, both found it hard to start. Star trying to get over her embarrassment, Marco trying to sort through all the connections with the Blood Moon he was making.

"Why don't you-" both teens began to say but stopped short. They both started giggling foolishly. Marco put his hand on top of Star's, looking affectionately into her eyes. "Why don't I go first?" he said, aiming to get to the bottom of what was going on between the two of them.

"So, we've both been acting a little… different lately. Especially me. I did things that I never thought I would do, Star. Marco Diaz is normally the safe kid, even though I hate that name. You know that I apparently chased right after you when you left, no hesitation, right?" Star blinked and nodded, rubbing the back of Marco's hand.

"Well, I don't even really remember it. I mean, if I try real hard, I can get a rough idea of what happened. I ran upstairs, I put things in a fanny pack, I saw my parents, then I left. Same story for almost the whole time I was in Mewni, too. I vaguely remember asking near the castle if anyone had seen you, finding Buff Frog in the Forest on accident and chasing you all the way to the fight with Toffee. It wasn't until I saw you that I began to remember things clearly again. Then I just sort of… let things happen in the cave. Not that it wasn't…" Marco stopped and glanced shyly at Star's eyes. "…um amazing, incredible, mind-blowing even, but…" He started rubbing the back of his neck slowly. "…did you know that I'm still in a relationship with Jackie? At least, I think?" Marco looked on as Star's soft smile quickly vanished, and her hands went still. "Yeah… and not once did I think about her when I was kissing you. I didn't even think about her until I went to bed. That's not Marco Diaz. I wouldn't do that normally. I started seeing the signs when I thought about it. The red glow in those pictures, the red tint in your eyes in the cave, your blood-red heart-marks in the cave, the red moon I saw for a split second when I went outside… Star, I think that the Blood Moon is really starting to affect the both of us. I don't know what it means yet, but it's clearly making us do… things."

Star sat there, motionless, shell-shocked from the Jackie bomb. _Oh no. I really 'starred' this one up._ Star felt regret crash into her like a 50-foot wave and could feel the blood drain from her face as her gaze defocused. _Did I make Marco do something he didn't want? Did I just ruin him and Jackie? Oh, corn, he's gonna hate me now, there's no way he can't hate me, I just…_

Star began crying heavily, whilst staring into nothingness. "Marco I… I'm so, SO sorry. I… I didn't mean to make you ki…kiss me." Star wiped the tears from her eyes while she continued to sob. "I made you do that… to… to Jackie." Star burst out of her chair and began to sprint towards upstairs. Before she could make it far, Marco grabbed her arm and stood up to face her.

"Let go, Marco!" Star muttered through her sobbing. "I ruined it for you and Jackie, you've got to hate me right now! I can't believe I'd do that to you two, I-"

"Star, please, let's talk about this. It's already happened, and we can't change that. But I need to tell you how I feel." Marco looked into her eyes, pleading with her to stop and listen. Star stared at Marco, apprehension evident on her face, even through the tears. "Star, first off, you mean so much to me. My life would be so much more boring if you hadn't sprinted into it. Second off, you didn't make me do anything that I didn't want to. At least I think… I don't know, but I still want to be at least your best friend. I need to sort things out with Jackie first, though. You didn't do anything wrong by telling me how you feel, and I should've talked to her about it after the party, but…" Marco sighed deeply. "I think I have a crush on you too, just… let me talk things out with Jackie, okay?" Marco silently begged with Star to be patient with him. The guilt about Jackie was crushing him, and she didn't deserve to be treated like this, but his feelings for Star were too great to ignore now. He didn't want to break Jackie's heart. He also knew that Star Butterfly was the most important person on two worlds to him, and there was no turning back from a relationship at this point. He both cursed the Blood Moon under his breath for making this decision for him and thanked it for making him realize just how good Star was for him. Marco just hoped it was him making these decisions about his feelings, and not some outside force.

Star solemnly nodded. It wasn't the answer she was looking for, but she knew that she couldn't be selfish here. She also wanted Marco only for herself, no one else, and for once in her life was willing to wait for something, someone. "Hugs?" She finally spoke, softly.

"Hugs," Marco replied, bringing Star into a tender embrace. Marco closed his eyes as he ran his fingers through Star's hair, letting himself feel the warmth spreading throughout his body. His doubts were eased somewhat as he thought to himself. _This is where I want to be; cradled in her arms, feeling her hair brush my skin, my heart beating steadily in rhythm with hers_. He let his worry melt away for just a moment as he drank in the happiness, letting a silly grin spread across his face.

He twirled slightly, Star still in his arms. As he opened his eyes, he saw Queen Moon, King River, his parents, and Clarence standing in the doorway to the kitchen. River and his parents bounded across the room and nearly tackled Star and him to the ground. A big group hug surprised Star as she took the brunt of King River's assault.

"Ah _Dios mío_ , Marco…" Rafael whispered, his large arms squeezing Marco. "Your mother and I were so worried! You just left without saying goodbye, and…" Rafael's warm voice made Marco smile even wider before Marco began to realize how he had treated his parents. A new stream of guilt battered him, realizing he hadn't even told them goodbye, and they had no idea where he was.

"We figured it was just another adventure, but when you didn't come home for two whole days…" Angie chimed in, voice saturated with relief. "Marco, I'm just so happy to see you safe and in my arms." Angie squeezed her only son with as much strength as she could muster. His mother's words granted a sense of peace, but also a newfound level of regret, as tears began welling up in his eyes. He wasn't much of a crier, but hearing his parents voice seemed to unleash a dam of emotions he didn't know he'd been holding back. Clarence quietly grabbed some eggs from the pan and shoved them through his visor into his mouth, spilling eggs on the floor.

"Star, my precious daughter…" King River said, squeezing Star against his chest. "You are so, so brave. Your mother told me of your exploits on how you prepared to fight Toffee, and I am so proud of you. You as well, Marco." King river spoke lovingly, his happiness unbounded with the sight of his blonde-haired, blue-eyed daughter. King River suddenly lowered his tone. "Y'know, I had to convince your mother that the best place for you to be was right here. She wanted to keep you on lockdown in the castle of all places!"

"Aw, thanks, dad," Star cooed. "You're the best. Can you put us all down now?" King River had unconsciously picked up Star and the Diaz family, holding them a few inches off the kitchen floor.

"Bah, yes if you insist," King River huffed, gently placing the 4 down. "Star, why don't we leave Marco and his parents to their house for a moment. I'm sure they have some catching up to do. As do we, back in the castle," the King said, his voice indicative of a serious discussion to come. Star slipped out of the hug with the King as they both walked over to the waiting Queen Moon, wearing her blue royal dress and a stern expression.

"Indeed, Star. Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, River and I also have some things to discuss with you, but we will be back later this afternoon," the Queen stated, eager to leave the Diaz household.

"Of course! You know you're always welcome here!" Angie responded happily.

"Until later, then," Queen Moon curtsied before signaling to Clarence to open a portal. Clarence retrieved a pair of dimensional scissors from his left greave and cut a door to Mewni in the kitchen. The royal family exited, as Clarence gathered up all the guards and followed them through the portal. On his way out, Clarence shouted: "The breakfast was superb, Sir Marco!"

Marco and his parents held the group hug some time longer before they broke it and sat down at the table. Marco had managed to stop any tears from falling, opting instead to wipe his eyes on his torn-up hoodie. His parents held hands as they thought the best way to breach the subject. They both knew that they'd not been as involved in their son's life as they should have. Talking about serious issues wasn't something they usually did with their son.

"Marco," Mr. Diaz started, "why did you leave so fast? We both care about Star too, but you left like there was no tomorrow. You didn't even respond when we tried to offer to help you."

Marco looked to the side, avoiding his parent's gaze. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but trying to defend his actions was harder than he expected. He wanted to break down and tell him that the Blood Moon made him act the way he did, but he knew they wouldn't understand unless he explained everything. He also wasn't sure how much of what he did was him, and much wasn't. Telling his parents about a life-altering demonic magic dance didn't seem like the best way to assuage his parent's fears, but neither did trying to sort out his feelings for his best friend on the fly. He also knew that telling him about one adventure would open the floodgates to all their adventures. If he had to be honest with himself, almost none of them were safe, and above anything else, he wanted to protect Star, even if she didn't need it. Queen Moon's words the night before echoed in his mind, and he knew Toffee wasn't going to stop chasing after Star because his parents might ground him.

"Marco?" His mother called out to her son, who was seemingly lost in a trance. "We aren't upset, but if something's wrong, we want to help."

"Yeah, Mom, it's just…" Marco looked gently at his mother as he offered a reassuring smile. "Sometimes I just get in too deep, y'know? Star's my best friend and she's saved me so many times, so every time I get a chance I try to save her back. That's what best friends do, right?" He hoped his parents had believed him, hoping his months of hiding things from his parents about Star had paid off here.

"Maybe…" Rafael responded, putting his hand up to his chin, thinking. "But best friends don't jump into another dimension without so much as a plan. Especially you, Marco. You're so… together most of the time, _mijo_. It was scary to see you like that, racing around like the world was on fire." Marco tried to not let his parents guess about his feelings for Star show on his face. He didn't know if his parents had heard her confession at the party, but he kind of assumed they did.

"Marco, do you have… romantic feelings for Star?" Angie asked, a soft tone blanketing her accusatory words. Marco could feel his cheeks blush slightly. "She is a beautiful girl, inside and out, Marco. I can see why you'd like her." Marco shifted his eyes to the side, still avoiding eye contact with either of his parents. "I know you're still dating that Jackie girl, but it's no shame to feel things, if you don't act on them prematurely, Marco." Marco felt his mom's words cut through his still-tender heart, having just momentarily cleansed himself of guilt with Star's embrace. Which struck him as funny, if he thought about it.

"Yeah, son! If you like Star in that way, you should tell her!" his dad chimed in, clapping his hands together. "Not before talking to Jackie of course. Not like you'd not do that anyways." Marco took another verbal stab to the heart as he tried to think of a subject to distract his parents. "I always thought you and Star would make a lovely couple!"

"Rafael!" Angie said, surprised. "Be a little sensitive. Marco, have you talked to Jackie yet?" Marco shook his head. "I know you just got back, but maybe you should? Soon?" His mother leaned forward and put a hand on Marco's shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly.

"Yeah," Marco said dejectedly. "I was, uh, going to later today." Marco felt pangs of regret as he started to fall into another familiar cycle of self-loathing. However, this time he had someone to talk to. Normally his parents wouldn't be his first choice, but he couldn't talk to Star about Jackie. She'd probably cry again. Marco took another risk, and opted to ask his parents, the two lovebirds match-made in heaven for advice on girl troubles.

"Hey Mom, Dad," Marco muttered. "Were you two always, y'know, like perfect for each other?" Marco felt a little awkward, trying to open up to his parents about love troubles when they've likely never had any.

Rafael and Angie exchanged a shocked look. Marco always seemed embarrassed with their expressions of love, so they never bothered sharing many stories about their younger years. Angie responded first.

"Well, not exactly," Angie replied, reminiscing about her and her husband's early days. "You know, your father used to be quite the ladies' man in college." Rafael playfully acted offended before Angie shot him an uncharacteristic glare. He promptly shut himself up and looked away. Marco gave his mom an inquisitive look. _They didn't always date in college? I'm, kinda shocked._ "Yes, it's true Marco. Your father was a heartbreaker when I first met him. He was always chatting up a different girl every other week in our art theory class. That was freshman year, right honey?" Rafael nodded as he winced at his past self. Or the death grip Angie held on his now prisoner hand. "It wasn't until, ooh… third semester that our relationship really started to… become something else. By that point I had finally come out of my shell, and began attending parties more. I interacted with a few girls outside of class, and they were quite the crazy ones." Angie closes her eyes for a moment, giving a smile and content sigh before continuing. "Well this one party, there was this… _hombre hermoso_. His name was Gabriel Himmel." Marco noticed his father perk up at the name, as if awakening some ancient being with a single phrase.

"Oh yes, him," Rafael laughed. At least he tried to, but it sounded forced and overly loud. "He was a lovely man, really." Marco could tell his dad was straining as he spoke.

"He was absolutely _gorgeous_ ," Angie gushed as she glanced at her husband. "What a charmer too; he was a music performance major, specializing in classical guitar. Oh, the beautiful songs he could play! I'd recently picked up piano, so I was fascinated with him!"

"Yes, yes, he was something," Rafael stated, his voice lowering and his tone steeling. He was clearly not in a mood to talk about this man. "I'm sure Marco doesn't want to hear all of the, uh, _little_ details of our college days."

"Oh, but sweetheart, I think Marco would love to hear how you swept me off my feet and carried me off into the eternal sunset that is our everyday life, away from that dastardly German mountain." Angie innocently smirked as she enticingly gazed into her husband's eyes.

"Well…" Rafael conceded, "it is a pretty good story." Rafael chuckled as Marco stared on in disbelief. Marco had seen this in movies before, but to see that technique work so flawlessly in front of his eyes… he'd underestimated his mother. Angie smiled as she continued

"So, Gabriel and I had recently been getting more acquainted. You know, a coffee date here, meeting up for dinner there. One time he even invited me to his room to hear him play!" Rafael seemed shocked as he listened to that last part, as if she'd never told him before. "So here we are, on our third real date, in this lovely little restaurant by the seaside. Food was lovely, the candles were lit, and there was an open mic night going on, so great music too. Very romantic. Honey, do you want to tell Marco what you did next? It was your moment of glory, after all." Angie giggled as she teased her husband. Marco cringed as his parents displays of affection reminded him who exactly he was dealing with.

"It's always better when you tell it, _mi cielito_." Rafael smiled as he flirted back. After a moment of affectionate staring, Angie turned to Marco and excitedly continued.

"Your father, Rafael, walks in dressed up in this over-the-top, exquisite red matador outfit. Gold shoulder tassels, black floral design, gold buttons, lapels, and even a _Dia de los Muertos calacas_. In his hands was this gorgeous flamenco guitar, made from redwood."

"It was stained spruce actually. But yes, very nice." Rafael chimed in, taking pride in an instrument Marco wasn't even aware his father could play.

"Yes, of course dear. It was very, very… impressive, especially for an open mic night at a small restaurant. This masked stranger was intriguing to me, so I decided to watch." Angie closed her eyes as she recounted the rest of the story, lost in the memory. "This extravagant figure opened up with some salsa music, a few lighthearted, fun pieces. After a few minutes, I looked away, eager to keep talking to Gabriel. But then…" Angie opened her eyes as she stared off into nothingness. "I heard the most beautiful love song. The first verse passed me by, but the chorus kept saying my name. I thought it was just the song, you know. After all, I didn't know this guitar player on stage! But as he finished that last chord, he looked right at me." Angie smiles as she shivers a little. "That moment still gives me chills. So, I thought that was it, right? But then the masked man went behind stage and brought out what looked like a canvas and walked towards me. As soon as he got to me he ripped off the mask and turned the canvas around. On it was that scene. It was me, staring at the stage, Rafael illuminated by spotlight, playing a guitar only to me, in a room about that size. I was star struck. Your father left after giving me a wink. I'd have melted right there if not for Gabriel keeping me together." Angie cuddled up to Rafael, silently urging him to finish the story.

"Well the next Monday, your mother found me and we've been together ever since. It hasn't been easy, but I knew your mother was the one I wanted to spend my life with. And also, I just didn't like that Gabriel guy. Too pretty, if you ask me." Rafael chuckled as his wife kissed him on the cheek. "So yes Marco, we weren't always these two lovebirds that were destined for each other. There were bumps, roadblocks, and more than a few times that we got mad at each other." Rafael looked at his wife longingly. "But every single second of strife has made us both so much more beautiful."

Marco took in his parent's story for all it was worth. His parents had rarely shared their personal stories with him before, but he almost felt like it was worth it now. Their story had inspired him. He knew he wanted to be with Star, if he asked himself. He had hoped he could be friends with Star, but the more he thought, the more he came to realize that he'd never do the things he did for Star for anyone else. He also solidified his conclusion that he couldn't be in a relationship with Jackie anymore. He'd have to break it off, much as he tried to see any other way to end it. He'd pined after her for so long, but she didn't save him when he was about to be crushed to death by a box. Never mind that he'd never have been in the box if not for Star. He asked himself internally what he and Jackie shared and all he could come up with was mutual affection. Now even that wasn't true.

"Thanks, Mom and Dad," Marco beamed. "I think that helps a lot. I'm gonna go take a shower and go talk to Jackie afterwards okay?" His parents watched as their one, handsome son bounded out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Angie sighed as she grabbed both of Rafael's hands and faced him.

"Raffy, are we doing the right thing?" Angie worried out loud to her husband. "I mean, Star has turned our boy into something more. She gives him purpose, drive, love…" Angie sighed. "…but you know that if what Queen Moon said is true, he'll be in just as much if not more danger than he just was." Rafael squeezed his wife's hands reassuringly.

"I know that if he's even half as brave as we think he is, he's gonna be fine. It isn't fair maybe, but Marco's got to make that decision for him." He pulled his wife into a strong hug. "Marco's always been able to take care of himself, and if he decides to get together with Star, the two of them will pull through anything. Just like you and me." Rafael felt Angie peak her head up from his chest and smile at her husband.

"Using our son's emotional turmoil over maybe one of the most important decisions of his life to flirt with me?" Angie jokingly teased her husband. "You always were sly, but this is something else Raffy."

"What can I say? Maybe reminiscing about our younger days has got me remembering how much I love you." Rafael stroked his wife's hair, brushing some stray strands out of her face.

"I can't believe you would ever dream of forgetting!" Angie replied, shocked.

"Never, my dear. _Te amo_ , _mi amor_."

" _Te amo, mi esposo_." Angie tucked her head into her husband's chest and cuddled for a while longer.


	4. Moving Sideways

Queen Moon, King River, Star Butterfly and an entire squadron of Royal guards stepped into the royal throne room, which had been left nearly untouched since Star last saw it. The dual thrones sat at the top of the stairs, with the royal flags behind them. The spade-shaped windows allowed beautiful beams of the early-morning sun to pass through. No one else was in the throne room, which made it feel much larger than it usually did.

"Clarence," the King spoke jovially, "take these fine gentlemen to the barracks and have them rest for as long as they need. They've done a great service to the family. You'll all get double rations for the next week!" The guards hurrahed as King River patted several guards on the shoulder and anchor-armed Clarence. The guards, now momentarily relieved of their royal duty all slouched over and let their exhaustion show, filtering out of the throne room two-by-two.

"You are too gracious, my King." Clarence deeply bowed as he spoke, relief evident in his voice. "Now, I do have a certain matter to discuss with you, if you'd spare a moment." Clarence looked intensely in the King's eyes, attempting to communicate something.

"What are you…" King River glanced inquisitively at Clarence. "Alright then, over here. I'll be but a moment, dearest!" King River led the much taller man by the arm off to the side. "What do you need to discuss with me, Clarence?"

"Sir, I thought you'd be interested in knowing Sir Marco's combat ability," Clarence whispered. "I took it upon myself to assess his basic acuity, as I didn't have a lot of time." King River's face harshened as his mood changed. Tactical information on the man who'd be protecting his daughter was indeed important. The coming battle would offer no amount of safety to his daughter, so learning more about Marco's ability to fight was crucial.

"Very good of you. Speak," the King said with a tone of seriousness. Clarence nodded as he recounted all he'd learned.

"Sir Marco has excellent situational awareness and reaction speed. What might've taken my guards three or four seconds to respond to a threat took Sir Marco less than half. He was as combat ready as he could be in less than two seconds. He seems to use his fists primarily and carries no weapons on him. I believe the princess may have mentioned something about a 'kah-rah-tay'? Let's see… he seemed to trust me much more upon mentioning the princess' name, which could be a weakness, or a strength depending on the situation. However, he was an incredibly quick learner. He mastered the anchor-arm on his first try. All in all, I don't think he sees himself as the princess' protector, but his already excellent instincts could be honed to fight for the princess." King River nodded as he stroked his beard, pouring over the information.

"Excellent work, Clarence. I'll be sure you receive extra jewels this month. Now go rest." The King nodded as Clarence bowed again, walking quickly towards the exit of the throne room. The King bounced ideas around his head as he strolled over to his lovely wife and daughter.

"Anything important River?" The Queen said disinterestedly.

"Yes, but maybe later." King River responded, still lost in thought.

"Very well then. Star," the Queen addressed her daughter in a formal tone as she walked up to her throne. "Your decisions upon returning to Mewni can only be called irresponsible, senseless and reckless. You not only left the castle without any mention as to where you were going but also vowed to defeat an enemy which 5 of the most powerful magic users in this entire dimension could not defeat in tandem. Not only that, but you ran off without anyone supporting you. You had no inkling of Marco's involvement and thus, I must assume that you were planning on fighting Toffee until the bitter end." The Queen briefly paused her lecture, hoping that Star would accept the weight of her words. Her daughter had never been the type to worry and be introspective, but Moon believed, through a harsh lecture she could get through to her daughter. It didn't seem to be working. Star leered defiantly, seemingly intent on expressing her personality even through this trying time.

"Mom, I had my reasons. And it's not like I didn't have a plan! I was going to use the whispering spell when Toffee caught the wand and hopefully destroy him!" Star professed her hastily thought plan, which she had only come up with as she realized she couldn't defeat Toffee fairly. King River had taken his seat beside Moon, matching his daughter's gaze.

"And risk annihilating potentially this entire dimension and who knows how many more? Star, you're brave, you're strong, and you are very good at magic." Queen Moon spoke honestly but reserved. "But you are not all-powerful. You cannot charge senselessly into a battle and plan to use your last resort. The wand being cleaved in the first place should have made you think otherwise." Queen Moon sighed heavily as River placed his hand on top of hers.

"Your mother is right, Star," King River said gently. "No one in the Kingdom would doubt your desire to make your own path, to be your own princess, do things the 'Star' way. But after your Song Day performance, and now rumors of the princess being absent from the castle for four days… Star, it's time to start thinking about the future kingdom of Mewni. How can a people trust in their future Queen, when she's done nothing to dissuade their fears?"

"The nobles never liked me, and they never will! I'm not gonna be the perfect princess!" Star fumed. She knew she never had a choice, but she had merely followed her heart like she'd always done. Marco had told her once that she would run Mewni her way, and she took that to heart. Why should she sacrifice her own personality for a job she never chose?

"Not just the nobles, Star," the Queen spoke up, a little calmer and lighter of tone, "the common folk too. We've had our hands full these past few days trying to keep the peace. There've been no riots yet, but Star… if you keep acting foolishly, there may be no kingdom left to rule." That last phrase seemed to strike a chord with Star. _No kingdom left to rule? I didn't realize it was that bad_ , Star thought seriously to herself. Her defiant gaze dropped, and her fierce scowl neutralized into a frown.

"I hope you understand the gravity of the situation now Star." The Queen looked on as her daughter's normal fiery personality extinguished itself. "Are you ready to begin to earn the people's trust back?" Queen Moon stared expectantly as her daughter kept her eyes down and blonde hair washing over her shoulders.

Star had a rare moment of self-awareness as her mother chided her for her actions. She had always tried to stay true to herself when she was growing up, doing what was most fun or exciting. Her actions never really had any lasting consequences, so she'd never bothered with thinking about the aftermath. But now, Marco's earlier words echoed in her ears. His decision to go talk to Jackie was something she admired now; he had been reckless, irresponsible, and now he had to deal with the consequences. Marco had been Star for once, and it was probably eating him away at him inside. Star found strength in Marco's decision as she vowed to make one just like it. Star dropped to one knee and clasped both hands in front of her as she looked up pleadingly at her mother and father.

"Please, let me earn it back. I know that this time I really messed up, and I want to make things right." Star spoke sincerely. She truly did feel remorse for almost single-handedly toppling the kingdom that had been built for generations. The King and Queen stared wide-eyed at their daughter, shocked and impressed at her rare moment of humility and grace. They exchanged a brief glance before Queen Moon continued.

"Ahem," Queen Moon started, trying to hide the shock in her voice. "Stand up, Star. Your father and I have plans for how to repair people's opinions of you." Star stood up, still gazing at her parents remorsefully. "In a few days' time, there will be a general assembly of the people, both common folk, and nobles. We had planned to host it ourselves, but we believe that if you were to lead the assembly and answer any questions, we could at least gain some favor back with the nobles. The common folk on the other hand… well, we have a plan for that as well, but we'll get to that later." Star's eyes lit up as she realized how she could start making things better.

"Of course, mom. I've seen you guys do it tons of times. It'll be easy!" Star responded confidently, waving a hand at her mother.

"I certainly hope so, Star. They're going to ask you some difficult questions, some that there may be no right answer to." Queen Moon looked at her husband as he avoided her gaze. "When I chose your father as the man I wanted to marry, the nobles asked questions then. 'Why him?' and 'What can he do?' and so on. There were no reasons then, except that I loved him endlessly. Sometimes, that isn't good enough for the nobles. So be prepared Star." King river smiled wide as his wife spoke, relishing in her rare public display of affection.

"Yes, mom," Star responded solemnly. Then her eyes lit up again as she got an idea. "Hey, can I have Marco join? He's usually really good at answering those super tough questions!" Her parents exchange a look as Queen Moon pondered the options. If Marco loved Star as much as Queen Moon believed, it may be an excellent opportunity to sway the noble's and the common folk's opinions; security for the nobles, love for the common folk.

"You know what Star, that would be excellent!" Queen Moon uncharacteristically clasped her hands together in a fit of joy. "Marco would have to agree to take a few etiquette lessons from Manfred, but yes that would be lovely. We would also have to dress him up in a fitting royal attire. That outfit at your Song Day was passable, but he'll need something more… regal, if he wants to impress nobles." Star listened to her mother's list of requirements and saw only plusses. _Marco with me at a tough meeting? Marco learning the ways of etiquette? Marco in a_ royal suit _?_ Star remembered how handsome he looked at her Song Day, and had to keep her mouth from watering as she fantasized about Marco in Mewnian royalty garb.

"Great!" Star beamed. "I'll go grab him and we can get started!" She was only a little ashamed to admit to herself that she _really_ wanted to see Marco all dressed up. In attire befitting a _prince_.

"Not yet, Star," Queen Moon said abruptly. "We still need to talk about the new rules. Namely, the new rules regarding your magical training, and the new rules regarding your stay with the Diaz family. Sit down, Star, this is going to take a while." Star groaned as she summoned her magical bean bag construct and shoved its face onto the floor. The Queen pulled out a long roll of paper and began reading from it.

"Firstly, you're going to need to up your magical training. I will assist you in that, and share with you all I know. Secondly, in regards to Marco, no going anywhere without his parents' consent. Thirdly…"

* * *

Marco sat down on his bed, staring at his now mostly charged phone. 11:37 AM. He sighed as he looked through his messages, rubbing his damp hair with his red towel. Jackie had texted him quite a few times while he was away. 17 times in fact. Most of them boiled down to 'I miss you', or 'Where are you?'. Jackie never texted full sentences which is why her most recent reply had bothered him. He scrolled up again and read through their 5-text conversation another time.

 _Hey, Jackie. I'm finally back from Mewni! I didn't take my phone with me, so I didn't get any of your messages. I'm sorry for just running off without even talking to anyone. – 11:07 AM_

 _Marco! Don't worry bout it babe, SOO happy ur safe, u at ur house rn? – 11:25 AM_

 _Yeah. I want to see you, we gotta talk about some stuff – 11:26 AM_

 _Oh, alright. Yeah, I'm uh, at the skate park right now, but we can meet up in like an hour? Grab some lunch somewhere? – 11:31 AM_

 _Sounds good Jackie, see you at my place at 12:30! – 11:31 AM_

She was never a texting kind of girl, so she was kinda minimalist when it came to messages. Her full sentences struck him as odd. Had he been too forward? Too vague? He looked through some other messages, trying to distract himself. Alfonso sent him a message, Ferguson too, although it was from Alfonso's phone. A text from Mom, from Dad (with way too many emojis), and a few texts from an unknown number. Given that the messages were about spooky hauntings in his room, he figured it was Janna. How did she even get his number? He checked his emails too; mostly spam, but the monthly newsletter for 'Karate Kicks Monthly' came yesterday. He passively browsed through the articles, hoping to kill enough time before Jackie came. He checked his phone again. 11:46 AM. _Not even ten minutes? Ugh._ Marco lay down on his bed, trying to not lose focus. He needed to tell Jackie how he felt about Star, but in a way that didn't hurt her that bad. _That's impossible_ , he thought solemnly. _You broke her heart, Marco. You don't know it yet, but you broke the beautiful Jackie Lynn Thomas's heart right in two when you left at the party._ Marco shook his head and tried to tell himself that it wasn't his fault, that he was just being controlled by the Blood Moon. But deep down, he knew that wasn't entirely true. He would've gone after Star anyways, no matter what. He was sure of that. He still didn't like knowing that the Blood Moon pushed him to do the things he probably would have done anyways. It almost cheapened it.

A knock on his door broke him out of another spell of thinking. "Yes, who is it?" Marco said to the door.

"Your darling mother, Marco. Can I come in?"

"In a minute, Mom. Let me get dressed." Marco threw his towels off and found a not-torn hoodie and clean pair of black slacks. It may have been the beginning of summer, but Marco was committed to this look. He threw on his clothes quickly and opened the door to his room. "Come on in."

Angie walked into her son's room, now much more organized than when he had left. The bed was made, his clothes were in the hamper, the laptop was neatly in its place and open. She smiled, silently thanking all that was holy that her son was home safe.

"So. Talked to Jackie yet?" Angie asked, trying to be gentle.

"Yeah, she's gonna meet me here in like 45 minutes. We're gonna go get some lunch afterward." Marco said quietly, remembering the true intent of his meet-up with Jackie.

"Don't be so down, Marco. You're young! Things happen sometimes, and Jackie is a sweet girl, she'll understand." Angie consoled her son, remembering her high school days were just as strenuous in the love department.

"Yeah, I know Mom, it's just…" Marco sighed, imagining Jackie's normal happy face as a sad one. "I don't want to hurt her. She didn't ask to get put against a magic-wielding blonde beauty from another dimension. I just feel so… guilty, y'know? I mean I've liked Jackie since elementary school! Now, this new girl who is just amazing waltzes into my life and befriends me nearly overnight, I almost feel like I'm… betraying the Marco that liked Jackie for like 8 years."

"Marco…" Angie pulled her son into a hug, stroking his back. "That just means you're changing! You shouldn't forget that you liked Jackie for so long, but if you really like Star, you shouldn't lead Jackie on. Oh mijo, let me ask you: who makes you feel alive? Is it Jackie, or is it Star? Because the person that you should be with is the person that surprises you every second, the one that makes you smile when the darkest skies are overhead." Marco returned his mother's hug as all he could think was Star. Star made him feel like he could conquer the world. Jackie made him feel more confident, gave him some boost to his personality… and with that extra confidence, he felt like he could be with Star, an independent warrior princess. It was cruel and poetic, but it was how he felt.

"Star, mama." Marco uttered. "Star's the one. Every time." Marco nodded as his heart confirmed itself. There was no more room for Jackie, it was Star's heart now.

"Then Marco, be honest with Jackie. It isn't going to be easy, but you owe her the truth. Now relax, sweetie. It'll all work out in the end." Angie released her son as she left his room, closing her door on the way out.

Marco flopped back onto his bed and closed his eyes. Maybe a short nap would do him some good. Marco set an alarm on his phone for 30 minutes from then and fell asleep on top of his bed.

* * *

Marco lazily opened his eyes, curious that he had fallen asleep so quickly. He felt around for his phone but couldn't find it. Instead, his hand met hard stone, causing Marco to sit up abruptly. Marco glanced around and noticed he was in a stone corridor of some sort, about 10 feet high and 7 feet across. It seemed to stretch on forever in both directions. It was dark, but a soft red glow seemed to illuminate the stone passageway. _Not another Blood Moon thing,_ Marco thought to himself, annoyed. He resolved to at least explore the hallway, see if he could find anything interesting, anything that would tell him where he was. He had a strong feeling he was dreaming, but everything felt very real. The coldness of the hallway, the roughness of the stone, and somehow even the air tasted right. Marco rose to his feet and ran his hand along the wall, hoping to find some hidden trigger mechanism somewhere. He walked in one direction for 10 minutes when he noticed a large wooden door, about 15 feet high.

 _Huh, that's interesting. That looks like the throne room door in Mewni._ Marco investigated the door top to bottom, trying to find any differences in his memory. From what he could remember, this was the same door. Except this one had no handles. _What's the point of a door without handles?_ He pushed on the door and met heavy resistance. He kicked the door with all his strength, and although he felt no pain, it didn't even budge. Marco turned around, frustrated. _Stupid door… if only it had a doorknob._ He decided to give up and continue down the hallway. As he turned, he now noticed a small brass knob in the doorway. _That wasn't there before… was it?_ Marco grabbed the knob and turned, and the door easily opened.

As Marco entered the room, the same red glow permeated the atmosphere, but now some natural light filtered in, making it appear as though he was wearing red-tinted glasses. He could see the throne room in all its glory; beautiful design on the floor, gradual steps up to the royal thrones and… Queen Moon and King River? Although he could not hear them from so far away, it appears Queen Moon is reading from some big piece of paper, with King River chiming in occasionally. Marco walked closer, waving to the pair, but if they saw him they made no effort to respond. As he got closer, he noticed Star sitting on the ground, in her bean bag magical creature… thing. Marco gave Star a wide berth and decided to walk up to the King and Queen.

"Helloooo?" Marco waved as he spoke. "Queen Moon? Can you see me? Hellooooo. River? No one?" Marco danced around on the steps, wondering if this were some royal test. Queen Moon's lips still moved, but no sound exited. It was almost like he was watching a silent movie. Even stranger was that he could hear himself. His voice, steps, breathing, sniffling, everything. He looked at Star, trying to communicate with anyone.

"Star? Can yoooou hear me?" Marco called out to the intrepid princess, who looked like she was going catatonic. She only very slightly responded to Queen Moon every now and again. Marco stopped right in front of Star and leaned down right in front of her face.

"Star. Blink once if you can hear the sound of my voice." Star blinked once. Marco recoiled slightly, eager to try again, in case it was a fluke.

"Okay, make a funny face if you can hear me." Marco waited and waited, but the princess barely budged. _Guess it was a fluke then._ Marco rubbed his chin, curious as to he could get Star to respond… or more importantly how he was going to leave. Marco sat down next to Star and began thinking out loud.

"Well, let's see… this is probably a Blood Moon thing, seeing as how everything is red. No one can hear me or see me, and I don't even know if this is real. I didn't feel any pain when I kicked the door, so maybe that means I'm just seeing a memory? But it's not mine, I never saw Star getting lectured by her parent's in the throne room alone. And I don't know if it's Star's because the throne room is almost never empty. Could it be a combination of two memories? Probably not… Could this be happening right now?" Marco looked at Star, the Queen, and King. Marco stood up and investigated the parchment the Queen was reading over. He remembered that he didn't know Mewnish writing, so opted to lip-read Queen Moon instead.

"'Rule 117: Marco must agree to all interdimensional travel before any new dimensions are crossed, and no more than 5 dimensions can be crossed before returning to the home dimension.' No this must be new, Star must be getting the talk down from her parents after her adventure for fighting Toffee. So, this IS happening right now." Marco scratched his chin as he thought about how to get Star to respond. She was the only other partner involved in the Blood Moon things, so he thought out loud as he began pacing front of the near asleep Star.

"She can't see me or hear me, so that's out. I'd rather not try and hurt her, 'cause she gets scary when she's mad. I could try and use her wand, but I have no idea how it works. Plus, I doubt I can really change anything in the real world. If it's a Blood Moon thing, maybe getting her to get that red tint in her eyes would do something…?" Marco blushed as he realized what that would mean. He would have to probably kiss Star while she was… alive? In Mewni? He wasn't exactly comfortable with kissing any girl unknowingly, but he didn't want to ignore Jackie if she came to the door. He figured it probably couldn't hurt, right? He definitely was only gonna kiss her because he had to, yep.

"Here we go, I guess…" Marco whispered as he gulped, crouching down in front of Star.

* * *

"…Rule number 120: All training must be done with the wand. Each spell will be mastered first, then another spell will be taught. Rule number 121…." Queen Moon droned on. She clearly wasn't having fun reading this giant parchment, but she powered through anyways. As she adjusted her parchment, she examined the remaining length, estimating they were about two thirds done.

Star sat in her beanbag chair, hoping that that list stopped soon. She was bored out of her mind and couldn't even properly fall asleep, listening to her mother's monotonous voice. She briefly entertained the thought of just going to Earth and hanging out with Marco but figured he needed some time with his parents. Still, she figured she could at least imagine it. She closed her eyes briefly and saw Marco right in front of her, nervously fidgeting with his red hoodie, bent down on one knee, leaning in slowly with his eyes half-open. She shot her eyes open and looked around, still only seeing her father in his chair, hand on his face, nearly asleep and her mother moving the parchment to the next rule. Did she just hallucinate? Curious, she closed her eyes again, only to see Marco about 6 inches away with his eyes closed. He slowly approached and she reasoned that hallucinate-kissing Marco was better than listening to her mother senselessly read on. She let fake-Marco approach and let her lips lock with his.

She didn't expect it to feel so… real. She felt his soft lips on hers, gently intertwining them and moving in tandem. She was surprised, but she didn't dare open her eyes. This was _way_ more fun than listening to rule 30 zillion or whatever. Through her closed eyes, she could see Marco opening his, clearly shocked as well. He didn't break the kiss, though. Instead, she saw him reach his hands for her waist. She let him, curious to see exactly how real this hallucination was going to get.

* * *

 _No way_ , Marco thought as his lips met Star's. _That is too real._ He felt her warm lips meet his and it felt like his heart was going to explode for a second. He opened his eyes to notice Star had closed hers. She began responding to his kiss, relaxing at his touch. _Damn, this is bizarre. I gotta make her get that red in her eyes though, so no stopping here._ He closed his eyes and redoubled his efforts, bringing his hands around her waist and moving his body on top of hers. He felt her body beneath him, squirming, but he didn't really feel like he weighed anything. The beanbag wasn't even sinking any more with his added weight.

Star reached an idle hand to the back of his neck and ran it through his hair, grabbing firmly, but gently. He could feel her smile through the kiss, amazed at whatever his hair felt like. Marco felt his body respond nicely to her touch as his breathing got more ragged and inconsistent. _Focus, Marco. What's gonna get Star to go… red?_ Marco tried moving his hands up to her neck, her cheeks, anything that happened in the past, but she kept on fighting through. _Think, what would Star like?_ Marco smiled wide as he got an idea in his head and broke the kiss with Star for a brief second.

* * *

Star panted as Marco broke the kiss. _No way. This is some hallucination. I swear I could feel Marco's hair right under my fingers._ She opened her eyes and realized she must have looked ridiculous to her parents. However, neither of them seemed to notice, her father still almost asleep and her Mother reading off rule 137. She decided to close her eyes and resume that intense, vivid recreation of Marco in her head. _He might be even better than the real one_ , she thought playfully. As she closed her eyes, she saw fake-Marco about 10 feet away in his Blood Moon Ball getup, his red hat, suit and calacas framing his exceptional features. That was the first time that Star ever realized how cute Marco was. Her breath stopped short as he sauntered up to her, stopping right in front. She unconsciously brought her hand up to her mouth as it opened wide. She could feel her heart skip a beat as she locked eyes with him. He stared at her from above and took the calacas off slowly. Beneath the mask, Marco wore a confident expression as he watched Star practically melt beneath him. He offered a hand which Star gently accepted. Then Marco whisked her into his arms bridal style and sat down on the beanbag.

* * *

Star now sat in Marco's lap, her back supported by Marco's right arm, her legs supported by his left. He smirked as Star instinctually wrapped both her arms around Marco's neck. The urge to open her eyes was almost too much, but she knew she'd miss something if she opened them. Marco flicked the hat off his head and stared directly into Star's closed eyes. He leaned in slowly, making her squirm with anticipation. He had to admit he was having fun teasing her, much more fun than he probably should have. He knew he had to make this moment count, the moment where she opened her eyes, they had to be blood-red. He approached slower, slower, slower… until he could feel Star's breath on his face, her breathing causing her chest to move in an over-exaggerated manner. Just as he was about to kiss Star he went for her neck instead, nuzzling into the crook of her neck, his lips kissing her right where her shoulder muscles started. Star gasped under him, clinging to his neck with almost too much force. If there was any moment for her to open her eyes, this was it.

* * *

Star felt Marco bury himself into her neck and was taken by surprise. She felt her body instinctually tense up as she pulled into Marco's body even closer. She lost her breath, and opened her eyes, revealing the ceiling of the throne room, still bathed in a comfortable mid-morning's light. And in her arms, was Marco Diaz, sadly dressed in his red hoodie and black slacks, but his face still buried in her neck, his arms still cradling her. She could feel him release her neck as he stared up in front of him.

Star followed Marco's gaze to a gaping Queen Moon and King River. She instantly realized what this must look like. She freed herself from Marco's grasp and stood up as quickly as she could, brushing off her body. Marco stared wide-eyed back at the King and Queen, shocked at their expression. For a tense few seconds no one said anything, just exchanged looks with each other.

"Star," Queen Moon said hesitantly. "What on Mewni is Marco Diaz doing in the throne room? How did he get here?" Star fidgeted under her mother's intense gaze. She kept her hands behind her back and bounced forward and backward on her heels.

"I… actually have no idea for once, do you, Marco?" Star responded quietly, glancing over at a still wide-eyed Marco. He looked like he'd been spotted by a fierce predator.

"I… don't, actually," Marco said, his eyes still locked with Queen Moon. "I would love to explain, but I just don't think I can. Can I go home now? Immediately?" Marco pleaded with the Queen, more out of fear than out of any real desire to return home. He did not want to tell the Butterfly family about the Blood Moon right now and really did not like the rage that was growing in King River's eyes.

"Marco," King River lowly grumbled. "More importantly, do you mind explaining precisely, with as much detail as your mind can handle, EXACTLY what you were doing with my daughter just then?" King River gripped the arm of the royal throne tight, causing his knuckles to go white.

Marco broke his gaze with the Queen and instead stared into Star's eyes. _I might die if I stay here. Star, if you can hear me, by some force of magic, cut a dimensional portal to my house and throw me through it. Please!_ Soon enough she met his gaze.

Inside Star's mind, she could hear Marco's voice and looked at his mouth to make sure he wasn't talking. _Star…cut a…portal…throw me…might die…_ It didn't take a genius to figure out what might happen if Marco stayed here while her father's rage grew. She moved with a practiced grace, unsheathing Marco's scissors from her bag and cutting a rip in space-time in one fluid motion. She grabbed Marco by the collar and threw him into the portal with one arm and closed the portal with the other before her parents could even react.

Star smiled as wide as she could, hoping to disperse any remaining rage her father had. He could be… protective at times. _That one was for you, Marco. Just gotta make something up, now._


	5. Goodbyes are Always Harder with Smiles

Marco tumbled through the portal into his backyard, eating a face full of cactus as he flew into his dimension. After painfully removing himself from the prickly vegetation, he began pulling small needles out of his face while walking towards the back door of his house. He closed his eyes and saw King River glaring through his soul. Marco quietly prayed for Star's safety. _Thanks, Star. You saved me… again._ Marco wandered into the kitchen, seeking out tweezers for the more stubborn needles. As he stumbled around the room, wincing at the pain, he noticed the time: 12:23 PM. Marco's eyes went wide-eyed as he starting frantically searched for the tweezers in the junk drawer, thankfully well-organized because of his devotion to cleanliness. He began yanking needles out with precision and vigor, cursing the Blood Moon for causing him to enter that pseudo-reality. _Jackie's gonna be here any minute!_ With most of the needles gone, he grabbed a paper towel and wiped his face, noticing the towel had some blood on it. He grabbed peroxide and poured it over the likely spot and felt a small sting as the peroxide cleaned the wound. He pressed the towel to his face and searched for a small band-aid. He found one in the guest bathroom and taped a band-aid over the wound. It wasn't pretty, but it would work. He ran up to his room and heard his phone alarm still blaring 'Space Unicorns'. He turned it off and checked his phone for any messages from Jackie. Nothing. Marco sighed, checking the time. 12:28 PM. _Phew_.

Marco went downstairs and sat down on the couch, waiting for Jackie to arrive. Temporarily distracted by that alternate Blood Moon world and his plan to get out of it, he refocused himself on telling Jackie how he felt about her and Star. He went over in his head what he was going to say, over and over and over again. He waited a few more minutes before checking the time. 12:34 PM. _Huh. She isn't usually late._ He stepped outside into the sun, realizing now just how hot it was. He looked both ways down his street, trying to find her. No sign of any blonde-haired, teal-streaked beauty with a skateboard. Marco shrugged as he went back inside, figuring she might not have left on time or something. Marco lay down on the couch and began to idly play some games on his phone, trying to distract himself from the missing Jackie, lest his nerves get the best of him. He'd learned from her to be cool about these things, and he was trying his best to do what Jackie would do in this situation.

His patience was soon rewarded as he heard a knock on his door. He got up and walked over to the door and placed his hand on the brass doorknob. A brief flashback to the Blood Moon world gave him pause for a second. He shook it off, sighed, smiled, and then opened the door.

"Jackie! Hey, what's going –" Marco jovially shouted perhaps a little too loudly. But his words stopped themselves as he took Jackie's appearance in. Her normally wavy blond hair was straightened, her teal streak tucked behind her hair. Her eyes had some off-white eyeshadow on, and some expertly done wing-tips on her mascara. Her eyes were their normal sea-green, but they sparkled brightly as she smiled at Marco. She wore a tight-fitting teal off-the-shoulder top, accentuating her athletic body. Her trademark seashell necklace hung loosely from her neck, sitting perfectly in the middle of her chest. Instead of her normal jean-shorts, Jackie wore a frilly white skirt that reached to just above her knees. She had one arm propped up on the door frame, and wore a happy and confident expression like always.

"Hey cutie, you just gonna stare or are you gonna say hi?" Jackie smirked as she taunted Marco lightly.

"Well I, uh, you look, uh, amazing, Jackie," Marco spoke, clearly flustered. He wasn't expecting Jackie to come to his house looking so cute, so he was thrown.

"Not what I meant, dork." Jackie smiled as she bear-hugged Marco, squeezing him tightly against her chest. Marco quickly returned the hug as familiar memories and feelings returned to him. He instantly recalled why he had started liking Jackie once they were dating. She could always make him smile with just a smirk and a few words.

"You know, I missed you a whole bunch Marco. You really know how to make a girl worry." Jackie spoke into Marco's chest, muffling her voice somewhat. "I thought I was gonna have to go chasing after you into Moon-ee or wherever. Glad I didn't have to though." Jackie rested her chin on Marco's chest and stared up at him, fluttering her eyes a little. Marco shuddered at Jackie's affections.

"Yeah, sorry, I don't know what came over me at the party. I just sorta lost it I guess," Marco said ashamedly. Realizing Jackie had genuinely still cared for him the whole time he was gone made him feel even more guilty about what he had done with Star since then. Not liking it wasn't killing him anyways.

"It happens, Marco. You get that way when Star does things. No biggie." Jackie smiled even wider at Marco as she spoke. If she felt any ill will towards Star, she certainly wasn't showing it. "But we'll have plenty of time to discuss your moments of daring heroism later. First, food!" Jackie released Marco and pointed outside, marching off with a goose-step. Marco stared in disbelief at Jackie. _Why isn't she angry with me? I know she's pretty chill all the time, but I just… left her._ Marco pondered as he stood in the doorway. Jackie turned towards Marco at the edge of the sidewalk and waved her hands.

"You not hungry or something Diaz? Those burritos aren't gonna devour themselves!" Jackie yelled as she motioned for Marco to start moving. "Come on, Marco!"

Marco smiled as his stomach grumbled. He just couldn't be all doom and gloom around Jackie, even if he tried. Her smile was just too infectious. He trotted off after her, joining her on the sidewalk. She grabbed his hand and gently swung it as they walked down the sidewalk towards the best burrito shop in town. He gently smiled as he took in the warmth of Jackie's hand, even in this hot weather.

Jackie hummed a tune jovially as she walked, occasionally glancing at Marco. She really was glad he was back, but something was definitely different about him. She decided to not let it bother her as she looked down at their joined hands, and squeezing his. He responded in kind as they started a squeeze war, each of them vying to get the last squeeze in. Eventually, Jackie conceded defeat as she put the back of her free hand up to her head.

"Oh no, I, the mighty Jackie Lynn, have been vanquished by the dastardly Marco! Who will save me now?" Jackie called out to no one in particular. She let her body go limp as she fell into Marco. He caught her, and strongly held her as she went dead fish in her arms. Normally Marco found it weird when Jackie did things like this, but he decided he wanted to play along today.

"Muahahaha, who will stop me as I take this lovely damsel and make her pay for 100 burritos?" Marco attempted his best old western villain accent, which earned a chuckle from Jackie. He hoisted her over his shoulder and began running down the street. Jackie began laughing uncontrollably as she playfully beat her fists on Marco's back.

"Put me down, Marco! I don't want to pay for 100 burritos!" Jackie jokingly protested as Marco ran further down the street. After a few blocks, Marco grabbed Jackie by the waist and set her down. She grinned like the love-struck teenager she was as they shared a brief glance in the eyes. Jackie landed a peck on Marco's cheek and grabbed his hand as she skipped towards the burrito shop. Marco blushed as her affection hit his heart hard.

Marco smiled as he looked at Jackie from behind. Despite the sudden kiss, Marco wasn't swayed from his original goal. He was having fun with Jackie, but he was confident he liked Star. He knew that Jackie deserved at least one last day of fun, and he didn't want her to think he was a loser who was too wrapped up in himself to have a good time. After all, she taught him that sometimes you gotta let go and just enjoy the moment. But his mom was right, she really was a cool person. She wasn't going to hate him or anything for him being honest with her.

Eventually, the pair found themselves at the burrito shop. They ordered their usual meal and found a table outside. It wasn't hot enough to not enjoy the lovely California weather, and they both hungrily started gobbling down their burritos. Marco was halfway through taking a rather ambitious bite when Jackie started the conversation.

"So, Marco. What happened at the party? Your parents went up after you, but no one else did." Jackie tried to seem nonchalant as she spoke, but she was secretly dying to know what happened to her boyfriend when he left after his best friend.

Marco coughed as he began to try and talk while swallowing. After a brief fit, he cleared his throat and started telling Jackie everything he remembered.

"Well, first things first, I sort of flew into something like an automatic motion after I saw all of Star's stuff gone. I started packing things left and right into this tiny little fanny pack when my parents came in. Then I went to Mewni and things got REAL hazy after that…."

* * *

"…and then I got told my breakfast was really good by an interdimensional alien who taught me some weird alternate handshake as he leaves through a portal. Y'know it sounds even crazier now that I say it out loud." Marco finished content with telling Jackie just that much. He tactfully left out any mentions of the Blood Moon or any… illicit activities he and Star did with each other.

Jackie sat across from him, fascinated with his tale of heroism and his resourcefulness. She stared into Marco's brown eyes and sighed deeply.

"See Marco, this is why I tell you to be more confident in yourself. You did all that without Star even asking you to! That's amazing!" Jackie stroked Marco's small, humble ego, trying to instill in him the feelings she feels when she looks at him; feelings of looking at an incredible, kind, beautiful person with a heart of gold.

"Haha, yeah I guess you're right. I just don't think about it, y'know? It's nice to not think about doing something and just do it." Marco spoke freely, though not without recognizing the irony that he hated it when the Blood Moon made him do things.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Jackie said, reminiscing about her first real date with Marco at the school dance. "Speaking of just doing things, you wanna go see a movie? It's not like we got class tomorrow, and I bet they don't have movies on Mewni. Mewni-movies?" Marco tumbled the idea around in his head for a minute. On the one hand, he did want to spend more time with Jackie. But on the other hand, he recalled his mother's words from earlier. He shouldn't lead her on, and just get it out of the way. But gazing into those emerald eyes made him weak.

"Well, it couldn't hurt, right?" Marco responded as lightheartedly as he could. "I'm dying for some Earth popcorn anyways. You'd think it'd be better on Mewni, but it really isn't." Jackie smiled and took Marco's hand into hers and smiled brightly.

"Great!" Jackie bounded out of her seat and pulled her boyfriend along. "I hear there's this awesome zombie movie out now. Supposed be about how two zombies are like super ninjas that died and try and kill each other. Again." Jackie bounced her head side-to-side as she spoke, recalling any details she could remember about the summer blockbuster.

Zombie movies weren't really Marco's thing, but the mention of the zombies being ninjas made him a little interested. _Who doesn't like some martial arts and zombies paired together? That's genius!_

It was a short walk from the burrito shop to the movie theater, as they were already in downtown Echo Creek. Marco realized he didn't know what day it was off the top of his head. He checked his phone and saw that it was Wednesday. _Ah, that's why there's no line. Should be mostly empty, too. It's only like 3._ Marco mentally facepalmed as he realized what this probably meant. _If the movie sucks, Jackie and I are probably gonna kiss. No, wait. Marco Diaz, you will not kiss Jackie Lynn Thomas! Movies are fine but don't lead her on, Marco._ Jackie stepped in front of Marco up to the ticket counter.

"Two for 'Intertemporal Ninja Zombie Vengeance' at 3:20, please!" Jackie said to the worker who disinterestedly aired out his collar. He wore the company uniform which seemed to fit a little too snug for him. He pushed his black hair out of his face and rang up Jackie.

"That'll be $15.61, ma'am," The worker said with as much enthusiasm as a man trapped in a box on a summer's day could.

"Wait, Jackie, you're paying? I have like $650 on me!" Marco protested as he watched Jackie pull out a 20 from her wallet.

"Well, ignoring why you carry that much on you…" Jackie spun around on her heels and bopped Marco on the nose with her finger. "I'm not going to let my super awesome interdimensional karate-warrior boyfriend pay for the movies as soon as he gets back from another adventure. So, keep that money, babe." Jackie smiled and winked as she finished speaking, causing Marco's heart to almost skip a beat. Jackie finished paying for the tickets and handed a ticket to Marco. Before she let the ticket go, she pulled him in close. "Besides, you can pay for popcorn." Marco nodded as he smiled at Jackie.

 _Oh man, this is bad. She's being really… Jackie today. More than usual. Come on Marco, remember why you came._ Marco thought to himself, the idle thought that maybe he should just be with Jackie passing through his mind before pushing it away. He took Jackie's hand and led her inside. It was surprisingly cool inside the theater, unlike outside. They handed their tickets to the ticket counter inside and she directed them to theater 2, where the ridiculous sounding movie was about to start playing. There was only one food cashier, but there was no one in line. The cashier looked at the two expectedly. Marco ordered a large popcorn and a large soda.

"Do you want anything, Jackie?" Marco said, looking at Jackie.

"Nope! I'll steal some of whatever you get!" Jackie said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Oh, is that right?" Marco said as he cocked an eyebrow at his innocently beaming girlfriend. "Ok, but we're gonna drown that popcorn in butter, so you better be ready." Jackie cringed as Marco spoke, but then laughed as Marco described how many gallons of butter were going to taint the popcorn.

They made their way to the theater and found two seats right in the middle, near the top. There were only a few other people around. A family with a small child, 2 couples and 3 single people littered throughout the theater. Marco disinterestedly watched the previews for the upcoming fall movies, mostly themed around action and fantasy. He swore he could almost tell what was going to happen in every movie before he even saw it.

As the movie started, Jackie clung onto his arm, the special effects much scarier and impressive than what the movie title would suggest. Marco gulped as he saw his left arm get taken prisoner by Jackie. _This is gonna be tough._

* * *

"Wow!" Marco exclaimed as he and Jackie left the theater. "That movie was amazing! The fight scenes were well choreographed, the romantic subplot wasn't stupid or contrived, and zombies actually had depth, and weren't just mindless money machines! Plus, the main villain was actually likable!" Jackie giggled as Marco gushed about the film. She knew he was a movie buff and she had done a little research on this one, finding that it was one of the best blockbusters in 10 years. The only complaint she found was the movie title.

"Yeah, when the two ninja zombies met, that scene where they fire was going on behind them? What a shot!" Jackie responded, trying to keep up with Marco's enthusiasm.

"The composition was just right! And the use of shadows as a metaphor for their darker sides, just perfect!" Marco waved his arms about in the air, trying to articulate his points and opinions to seemingly the air around him. He was genuinely interested in the movie the entire way and wasn't tempted to kiss Jackie at all. In fact, he's not sure he even looked at her more than once during the whole thing.

As Marco continued to gush, Jackie responded as best as she could, leading him towards the dog park. Jackie admired Marco when he got passionate about things, which is why she wanted to take him to the movies. _He's just so cute_ , Jackie thought sincerely to herself. Eventually, they found their way to the dog park, their giant yellow star getting low in the sky. Jackie led Marco to a park bench and sat him down as he continued to ramble on about the movie. She stared into his face, not particularly listening to his words anymore, as he started to use a bunch of technical jargon she didn't understand.

"So, boyfriend," Jackie said, interrupting Marco's rant about the dual-nature of fighting or something. "Did you have fun today?" Jackie smiled as she stared into those chocolate brown pools for eyes. Marco scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. He chuckled a little as he stopped his rant.

"Yeah, lots of fun," Marco responded genuinely. "It's really good to see you again Jackie." Marco grinned at Jackie as she put her elbows on the table, leaning on her hands.

"You too, Marco." Jackie's smile was plastered on, as she knew the rough conversation was coming. The one where Marco tried to justify his actions for his best friend and tell Jackie how much he means to her and he would never hurt her and he's sorry and –

"Jackie, we've gotta talk now," Marco said with more confidence than she expected. His eyes met hers, and instead of a sad, insecure expression, Marco wore a driven neutral expression. Jackie wasn't sure what to expect anymore. She knew this conversation was coming but had expected Marco to fumble over it.

"Jackie… I'm not gonna try and tell you how to feel after I left you out to dry at the party." Marco put his hands on the table and solemnly stared into Jackie's eyes. "I can't imagine how it must have felt to have your boyfriend chase off after a girl who just told him she had a crush on him. I know I feel guilty about it. Very guilty. I wish I could explain myself, but I know you don't want to hear it. It doesn't matter anyways because you and I both know that I was going to go after Star." Marco closed his eyes as Jackie's expression tensed up, her normal happy grin devolving into a somewhat sad frown, her eyes staring softly at Marco as he told her his heart.

"I'm not even gonna pretend that I wouldn't do that. Star means so much to me, that I'd jump into a deep, dark hole at a moment's notice if I felt like I could save her. It sucks, but that's the way I feel. After Star's confession…" Marco sighed as he continued. "I was thrown. How could an interdimensional princess like Marco Diaz? The Safe Kid?" Marco laughed, reminiscing about his feelings. "But what was even crazier, was that I thought 'How can lonely, poor little Marco Diaz even think he's good enough for _the_ Star Butterfly?' I don't know, but I told you while I was chasing after her in Mewni, I didn't remember a thing. Until I saw her again." Marco squeezed his eyes shut, recalling that vision of a fierce and adventurous Star Butterfly staring down the most dangerous enemy she's ever faced and didn't even flinch. "Then everything clicked. I knew that I wanted to be by her side always." Marco's face finally dropped from Jackie's as he let loose all his pent-up emotions.

"It just isn't fair to you Jackie. I cannot treat you like this. I cannot be willing to drop everything to save someone else and tell you that I still want to be your boyfriend." Marco opened his eyes slightly, silently telling himself to not cry here. "You deserve someone who would jump into hell to save you, not someone who would risk everything for someone else." _Don't cry, Marco Diaz._ "I am so sorry that I can't promise that to you, Jackie. I wish that there was some other way…" Marco rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie, recalling every moment that he risked his life without a second thought for Star.

Jackie moved over to Marco's side of the bench and put her arms around him. She had been prepared for this, but seeing Marco so vulnerable made her feel for him. She could feel the genuineness in his words, much as it hurt her. She knew she was never going to get Marco back, but it didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. _I would rather lose him to an interdimensional warrior princess who's gorgeous like Star, as opposed to someone like Britney, I guess_ , Jackie thought to herself. She leaned into his shoulder and refused to let a few tears fall. She didn't know what to say anymore, but she knew she had to say something.

"Marco, if it makes you feel any better, I saw this coming. As did everyone at the party. Star's an awesome girl, and you've become such a better man because of her. You used to never have that passion in your eyes before Star. I'm not so silly as to be blind to see what Star did for us. For you." She nuzzled deeper into his shoulder, tightening her grip on him. "If there's anyone I'm okay with losing you to, it's Star Butterfly. Besides, we're both young. Feelings change like the wind, right?" She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to come to terms with losing Marco for real this time. She still desired Marco, but she kind of knew that there was no beating Star Butterfly.

Marco sniffled as he listened to Jackie's words. Her quivering voice didn't really make him feel better, but he knew that she was trying. That was something. That was so like her too; even after he probably left her heart in pieces, she wanted to make him smile. Marco stopped thinking for a moment and let his body take over.

He grabbed Jackie gently by the face and nearly stood up as he kissed her on the lips. Marco felt Jackie respond shocked beneath him before she relaxed and leaned into the kiss. He held it for longer than he meant to, as he was lost in his emotions. He felt like that was the right thing to do, despite telling himself earlier he wasn't going to kiss Jackie. He broke the kiss and released Jackie's face before he started to confuse her. He touched foreheads with her as he spoke.

"Thank you so much, Jackie," Marco said genuinely. "You have no idea how much you mean to me. I wish there was another way this ends." He gently rubbed his forehead with hers, closing his eyes. "But I'm breaking up with you. You're the best girlfriend I've ever had." Marco smiled as he backed away from Jackie, getting up from the bench. He started running away from Jackie, turning his upper body around to wave at her as he left. "I'm never gonna forget you! And we'll still be friends, I swear!" Marco yelled as he ran out of the park, leaving Jackie alone on the bench.

Jackie waved back as she muttered to herself. "I'm the only girlfriend you've ever had, dumbie."

* * *

Jackie stayed there on the park bench for a while, crying out her emotions to no one. She had tried everything: taking Marco to a good movie, dressing up super cute for him, being extra flirty. She had held onto the faint hope that he was still her boyfriend. In the back of her mind, though, she knew he was gone when he didn't come down from his room. Marco was right; it wasn't fair to her. Star Butterfly could take Marco Diaz anywhere he wanted in the blink of an eye. She was gorgeous, funny, exciting, and most importantly was Marco's best friend first. She cried harder as she realized she could have had Marco sooner, but he was just so… background, until Star came along. Jackie dealt with too many boys liking her for her body that she didn't feel like trying to get to know any of them. But Marco was always different, and she realized that now. Too little, too late. Eventually, she got up as the sun started to set. As she closed her eyes, remembering that last gentle, passionate kiss, she realized Marco had never been able to kiss like that. Heck, she had to practically instruct him how to kiss in the first place. A stray, wicked thought graced her mind.

 _He hadn't… kissed Star while he was away in Mewni, did he? Marco Diaz wouldn't do that, especially with how guilty he would feel afterward, right? Haha, no way. It was probably just emotions, yeah._ Jackie tried to not let her emotional hurt influence her judgment as she walked home. There was no way Marco Diaz would do that. Yet as much as she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. But she knew it was not the time to start tossing accusations around. Not yet anyways. But it couldn't hurt to ask Star later, right?

* * *

As soon as he was out of sight of Jackie, he slowed his pace to a walk and hung his head dejectedly. _Why did you have to kiss her, Diaz? That probably just made things a hundred times worse._ He opted to not tell Star about exactly how he broke up with Jackie, and instead just keep it basic. He kept telling himself that he made the right decision, and he found comfort in remembering why he had started liking Star in the first place. Her gorgeous smile, her beautiful hair, her pale blue eyes, her soft lips, her heart marks… He closed his eyes for a moment and saw Star in the throne room again, standing to his right, her hands behind her back, bouncing forward and backward. He then was reminded of the rage King River exhibited before Star launched him through the portal into some cacti. He shuddered, again hoping that Star was ok.

Marco spent the walk home trying not to think about Jackie's heartbroken face as he ran away. It was killing him, but he knew it was the only thing he could do. Staying with her any longer would've just made things worse, more complicated and messy. All he could do was be honest with her and hope that she could forgive him. He found himself on his front door sooner than he expected, and pushed the door open where he was assaulted by a beautiful amalgamation of smells; basil, oregano, thyme, pasta sauce, something sweet… cinnamon? He noticed his parents were very busily working in the kitchen, both decked out in aprons, chef hats, oven gloves and carrying cooking utensils around.

"Marco? Is that you?" His mother yelled frantically from the kitchen.

"Yeah, Mom. What's for dinner?" Marco asked, curious as to why his parents were so intensely working.

"Marco! Grab an apron and get in here, we could use your help!" His mother replied, carrying a tray of prepared lasagna across the kitchen, sticking it in the oven.

"Okay mom, be right there!" Marco had no idea why he was being called in to help with dinner, but his mother didn't seem like she wanted to explain. He stepped into the kitchen and noticed many things being cooked: pasta, the lasagna, corn on the cob, some sort of ground beef dish on the stovetop, and some kind of pie-looking thing over on the far counter. It was a veritable tornado of culinary work, with utensils strewn about across the counters and various ingredients scattered all over the place.

"Mom, what is all this? Why are we cooking so much for dinner?" Marco wondered out loud as his mother shoved a rolling pin and apron into his arms.

"Fewer questions, mijo. Now roll out that pastry dough and cut them into circles! Get moving!" His mother quickly explained his task as he shut his mouth and began working. He'd only seen his mother this frazzled when that family was going to come eat with them that one time, while Ms. Heinous was grilling him. Trying to kill him too, but whatever.

The Diaz family worked seamlessly together, like a team of trained professionals. Ingredients were cooked to perfection just as the next step in the recipe called for it. Utensils were passed efficiently, spices were rotated as needed and Marco's organization of his materials streamlined the entire process. Marco had to admit he was having quite a bit of fun, even if he didn't understand why they were cooking so much. All in all, they cooked a veritable feast for whoever was coming over. Corn on the cob, pasta, lasagna, ground beef for tacos, macaroni and cheese, broccoli casserole, fried rice, beef stew, homemade meatballs, burgers, steamed carrots and for dessert key-lime pie and chocolate muffins. An intense hour and a half cooking and the Diaz's sat on the couch, exhausted.

"Good work, darling, Marco," Rafael said as he sighed deeply. "I wasn't sure that broccoli casserole was going to cook, but it did. Phew!"

"Yeah, you were in peak performance today, Dad!" Marco said as he smiled, happy that his ordeal was finished for now. "Now does someone want to tell me why we cooked enough for 20 people? Is there some family reunion I don't know about today?"

"Sort of, Marco," Angie breathily uttered, wiping the sweat from her brow. "The Butterfly family is going to join us for dinner in about…" Angie looked at the clock on the wall "…15 minutes or so. Oh no! We must clean up the kitchen! Come on, Raffy, let's move! Marco set the table for six! Fork on the left, spoons on the right, littlest spoons closest to the plate! Don't worry about folding the napkins fancy, just make it look nice! Use the fine china, Marco!" His mother barked orders as she burst into the kitchen with her husband. Marco sighed as he got up again, quickly swapping out the normal tablecloth for the fancy floral design one, and setting the table as elegantly as possible. _Fork on the left, spoons on the right… where does the knife go? I'll just put in front, I guess._ He set up the chairs nicely and set the napkins on the seats, finishing off the ensemble with the fine china on top.

"Mom, should I light a candle or two? It'd look nice!" Marco yelled louder than he had intended.

"Yes Marco, use the non-scented candles, though!" Angie said back as she put the last of the dishes in the sink, Rafael quickly washing them off before shoving them in the dishwasher. Marco grabbed two candles from a cabinet near the bathroom and took off the tops and lit two to place them on the table, checking their symmetry.

"Mom, I'm gonna clean myself up a little bit, the table is set!" Marco yelled as he ran upstairs. He checked himself in the mirror for any blemishes when he noticed the band-aid from earlier was still on. _Was that on the whole time I was with Jackie?_ Marco gingerly tore it off and checked the wound. It just appeared as a small red dot and decided to brush his hair over it. He sprayed some cologne on himself and swapped out his now sweaty hoodie for a nicer polo. He brushed his hair down again and messed with his part a bit before deciding that it looked good enough. He checked himself out from the side before leaving his room. When he came down his parents were sitting on the couch, relaxing.

"Oh, good idea Marco, we'll go put some nicer clothes on!" Angie said as she ran into their room with Rafael. As if on cue, there was a brief triplet of knocks on the door. Marco peeked through the porthole and saw Manfred standing there. Marco briefly considered waiting for his parents before deciding that would be rude to leave a guest at the door. Marco closed his eyes and hoped that this dinner was going to go off without a hitch. He opened his eyes and gripped the doorknob tightly. He turned the knob and opened the door, bowing deeply, hoping he wasn't going to make a fool of himself.

"Welcome to the Diaz household, Queen Moon, King River and Princess Star."


	6. Lies, Passion, and Promises

"Welcome to the Diaz household, Queen Moon, King River and Princess Star," Marco said as elegantly as he could manage, trying his best to impress the King and Queen. As he raised his head, he stared at the Butterfly family in awe. If there was anything he appreciated about being friends with royalty, it was their sense of fashion. Queen Moon wore an elegant ensemble of light blue and deep purple, wearing a full-length dress that poofed out at the waist, with an intricate design of smooth purple lines chasing down from the neck of the dress to the floor. Marco could swear the lines were moving, ever so slightly. King River wore a matching light blue suit with purple accents. Purple buttons, a purple ascot, purple shirt cuffs, but light blue everything else. It reminded him that even though he could be… barbaric occasionally, he was still King.

But Star was the pièce de résistance. She wore her hair in dual pig-tails draped across her shoulders, in front of her chest. She wore a white ball gown, with puffed shoulders, trimmed with gold. Her arms were clad in white gloves, complete with a gold tribal design snaking up their length. The dress dipped slightly on her chest, where her spider necklace rested peacefully. The gown flowed down and hugged her waist and hips tightly, poofing out just a little bit. The gold tribal design on her arms resumed at her waist, where the dress ended in frills just below her knees. She wore white stockings and cute little ballerina shoes. Marco could not stop staring, eying her up and down once, twice, thrice. Upon the third ogling, Star shyly looked away blushing, unable to withstand Marco's intense staring. King River coughed loudly as he began to walk inside.

"Thank you SO much for having us, Marco Diaz," King River grumbled through gritted teeth. As he passed Marco, he grabbed Marco's shirt tightly and stared into his eyes. King River lowered his tone and gritted his teeth even more. "Keep ogling my daughter and you're going to learn why I'm known as the Blue-Eyed Menace to those that fear me." King River stared intensely for a few seconds more before continuing inside. Queen Moon passed by without a word or glance to Marco, but made a signal to Manfred. Manfred left the porch and stood by the carriage, awaiting further instructions. Star was the last to walk in, and she quickly exchanged a glance with him before stopping by his side and closing the door.

"Didn't get you in too much trouble, did I?" Marco whispered, nodding his head towards King River.

"Nah, I made up some junk about an invisibility cloak or something, so they still don't know about the Blood Moon… thing. Also, you and I are totally going to talk about that. 'Cause that was weird." Star whispered back, giving Marco a tame hug before grabbing his hand and leading him to the kitchen. Queen Moon and King River sat on the same side of the table, organizing their cutlery. Angie and Rafael came out of their room, dressed in somewhat formal clothes. Marco now felt underdressed as he briefly considered going up to his room to change. Star sat down in front of her father, and Marco took his place beside her, leaving Angie and Rafael at the seats on either end. Angie and Rafael felt awkward, but weren't going to ask their guests to move. Rafael spoke up first.

"We are so glad to have you here, guys!" Rafael stood up and grabbed his plate. "Feel free to grab whatever you'd like! We even have some corn on the cob, if you'd prefer!" Rafael tried to break the silence by offering food.

"That would be lovely, Mr. Diaz." Queen Moon said politely, never breaking her neutral frown. She stood up and nudged the King, who was locked in a staring match with his daughter. They seemed to be nonverbally communicating some intense argument as the Queen nudged the King again, which broke the staring contest. The King grabbed his plate and moved over to the island counter, now distracted by the many food options. Star looked over at Marco expectantly.

"Guests and ladies first, princess," Marco said with a lilt in his voice before bowing in his seat slightly. Star giggled a little before grabbing her plate and following her parents. Queen Moon had grabbed a small sampling of all the dishes, perhaps more out of courtesy than any interest in trying them. King River on the other hand had a small mountain of food on his plate, filled mostly with corn and meat. He was quite enamored with the burgers and had 4 of them stacked on his plate, around the sides. He carefully set the plate down and patiently waited for the rest of the family to sit. Marco, Star, Angie and Rafael had picked their favorites, with Star also grabbing almost everything (except the broccoli).

For a few minutes, they ate quietly, with an occasional comment from Queen Moon about the loveliness of a dish, to which Angie would thank her for. Everything was incredibly formal, which Marco wasn't used to. He avoided looking at Star as much as he could, as he did not want to make King River any irater. Rafael and Angie exchanged looks across the table subtly, occasionally nodding towards one side or the other. Star ate her food calmly, trying to restrain herself from devouring it like usual. This was a more formal affair, clearly, and she wanted to show her parents that she was ready to be a little more grown up. Queen Moon was the first to speak up, motioning towards Angie and Rafael with her hands.

"This dinner is lovely, Mrs. Diaz. Your corn is superb, if I do say so myself." The Queen spoke politely and formally. "But alas, we must discuss the future of Star's stay with you."

"Of course, Queen Moon," Angie responded brightly, eager to please. "I know things are going to change a bit for Marco as well." She glanced at Marco, offering reassuring eyes.

"Indeed," Moon responded grimly. "As I mentioned before, Toffee is a threat to the entirety of Mewni. But all he wants is Star. Specifically, her wand, but I suspect that based on his most recent actions, he seeks to kill Star as well." Star cast her eyes down as her mother spoke, already aware of what her mother was going to say next. "It is for that reason that I need to ask Marco a question. May I?" Queen Moon motioned towards Angie, waiting for an answer. Angie nodded.

"Marco," the Queen addressed the nervous young teen. "You don't need to answer now, but… Marco Diaz, do you wish to protect my daughter from the hazards of the menace known as Toffee?" Queen Moon spoke regally, but with an air of hesitance. Star knew what this meant for Marco, but he had no idea. "As I said, Marco, you needn't answer immediately."

"I will, Queen Moon," Marco said confidently, matching Queen Moon's gaze. "I hope my most recent… expedition after Star is enough proof that I will fight beside her, even when I know nothing. She's the person whose smile I want to protect, the person whose heart I want to treasure and have as my own." Marco tried to speak from his heart and match the tone of the dinner. He suspected this was not a simple question of motive, but something more formal. Star gushed internally at Marco's words, hiding an oncoming blush.

"Very well then, Marco. Your blind faith may wind up hurting you in the end, but I know your heart is in the right place." Queen Moon smiled as she stared at Marco from across the table. "Just to be certain, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, do you agree with Marco's decision?" Angie and Rafael looked at each other and Marco for a few times before convening on the far side of the kitchen.

"Last chance to say something, Angie." Rafael whispered as his wife fidgeted nervously.

"Did you see how quickly he said yes? If I say no now, he's just going to do it anyways. He said it best, he'd go a million and a half miles for Star. I'm not sure it would even matter if we said no." Angie sighed as she and Rafael glanced at their young teenage son.

"True, my love," Rafael said, conceding defeat. "It is his decision anyways. I say we support him the best we can." Angie nodded as the two resumed their places at the table.

Rafael and Angie nodded in unison as Angie spoke. "Yes, Queen Moon. We agree with his decision."

"Excellent. Marco, do you know what this means from here on out? It means that you must be more than Star's best friend." Queen Moon paused as she noticed her husband bending a spoon to her side. Marco felt a bead of sweat drop down his nose as he watched King River effortlessly annihilate one of their nice spoons. Queen Moon continued as River released the spoon. "It means you must be her confidant, her guardian, and…" Queen Moon sighed. "…very possibly, her prince. Although that last part isn't necessary, I'm very aware that you two have achieved a certain level of… intimacy." If Marco paid attention, he could see Queen Moon's diamond-marks glow just a little bit white before they faded to their normal purple. Angie and Rafael stared wide-eyed at their son as he kept his eyes forward, trying his very best to conceal any… extra emotions from showing on his face. Like guilt, happiness, fear, embarrassment, sadness, or even understanding.

"Moooooom, please let's not do this here," Star pleaded as her father nearly popped a blood vessel. "Marco's parents really don't need to hear about that. I think Dad might also be going volcanic over there." Star pointed at King River as he bit straight through a corn-cob.

"What, sweetie?" King River growled. "I would never lose my temper over some young handsome boy kissing my daughter anywhere that's not on the cheeks right in front of me after he used an invisibility cloak and dimensional travel to sneak into the throne room and hold my daughter like she was his bride and they aren't even official yet like some sort of beast only after her beauty, no I'M NOT UPSET!" King River's face contorted into some sort of wicked concealment of the greatest rage Marco had ever seen. Marco still kept his eyes forward, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong. King River was visibly shaking as he tried to calmly eat, but only wound up crushing more forks and spoons. Angie and Rafael glanced between the King and their son in shock and worry, as the King ruined ever more cutlery.

"Dearest, this isn't really the time or place to do this," Queen Moon calmly stated, placing a hand on the King's shoulder. "Besides, we've talked about this. It's Star's decision now. If she's old enough for the wand, she's old enough to decide who she wants to be with." Queen Moon coolly spoke in his direction, King River still fuming.

"Yes, my love," King River gritted through his teeth. "It's just, as far as I'm aware, they aren't EVEN DATING. Which may cause me to be a little upset at the previous audacity of the young MARCO DIAZ in the throne room."

"Ugh, fine Dad!" Star exclaimed as she threw her hands up and stood up from the table. "You think I'm being somehow led astray by Marco? That he's put me under some hypnotic spell, because I think he's cute and he kissed me!? Dad, I am old enough to date who I want!"

"Yes, SWEETHEART, you are," King River said menacingly as he shook, staring at his daughter. "But you aren't DATING. Him. Yet." Star rolled her eyes as her Dad nearly exploded. She was fed up with how he was acting about Marco, treating him like some sort of demon because he kissed her.

"Dad, I am so sick of you! I kissed Marco first anyways!" Star screamed as she grabbed Marco's cheeks and turned his face towards hers. _Make it an amazing one Marco,_ Star thought as she stared deep into Marco's eyes, bringing her face close to his, turning slightly.

 _Make it…amazing…Marco._ Marco had tried to go brain-dead for the past few minutes. It worked well until he heard Star's voice coming from… inside his head? He didn't have much time to think as Star closed her eyes and leaned in for a kiss. He reasoned that if he was going to die, kissing Star was probably the best way to go. Might as well make it a good one. Star brought her lips to his first, still holding onto his cheeks softly. His instincts kicked in as he stood up to match her height. He put both hands around her waist and pulled her hips into his. Star leaned her chest into his, and slid her hands to his hair, gripping tightly. Marco stopped thinking about what to do next and followed what his heart told him. His heart made him tighten his grip in her waist and lift her in the air. She was shocked, but decided that she really wanted to make an impression on her dad. She daringly wrapped her legs around Marco as they spun around lightly, meanwhile still kissing. She could feel her heart racing as she lip-wrestled with Marco who was responding like a wild animal, much to her pleasure. Marco felt similarly, now past the fear of death and focused only on enjoying the weight of Star's body on his, the warmth of her lips and hands, and the beautiful happiness he felt wrap his entire body twice over in a cocoon. Eventually they broke the kiss, gasping for air as their hearts beat furiously, threatening to pop right through their chests. Star then snapped her eyes over the where the King was sitting as she unwrapped her legs from Marco and stood on her own two feet.

"Dad, say hello to my boyfriend, Marco Diaz," Star said smugly as she locked eyes with the King. Perhaps their performance had been too effective, as the King's eyes had glazed over. Everyone at the table had similarly unique expressions, Marco's parents a strange mix of happy, surprised and impressed, Moon mouth agape and eyes wide, clearly shocked. After years of similar incidents, Queen Moon thought she could never be surprised by her daughter again. How wrong she was.

Marco, now coming down from his adrenaline rush, stared blankly at his parents. They didn't seem upset, but rather… amazed? He didn't even know what to feel at that moment. He had briefly achieved a state of transcendence with that kiss, but now in the aftermath he had no idea what to tell his parents. He _lived_ with Star, so this was not going to go over well. He also felt some pride at Star's reaction, sharing with him a moment of mutual breathlessness. But he also felt terrible for King River, who watched his one precious daughter practically get mauled with affection by Marco. He had no idea how Queen Moon was going to take this, and wasn't entirely positive that she wasn't going blast him with magic into heaven. He had heard Star call him her boyfriend, but did she even know that he had broken up with Jackie? Was she just using him to get back at her dad? So many feelings swirled around as he held Star against him.

Queen Moon averted her eyes from the newly formed couple and turned them towards her husband, who appeared to be broken. She waved a hand in front of his face, shook his shoulder, nothing seemed to be working. She set about trying to lift him out of his chair when he began to quietly mutter to himself.

"…she's old enough to date who she wants…Marco Diaz…boyfriend…" King River softly muttered to himself as his gaze locked forward, eyes still glazed over. "She's beautiful…Marco Diaz…boyfriend…my sweet daughter…kissed first…Marco Diaz…boyfriend…" His ramblings continued as Queen Moon hoisted River out of his chair and began carrying him to the door.

"Well, then…" Queen Moon said, her voice shaken somewhat. "Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, that was a lovely dinner, and I'm so glad we could do this. I'm going to go now, and… take River home. He's… tired, as am I. Star, I'll be back in the morning, sleep well." Moon spoke mostly calmly, but almost as if she was in a daze. She didn't look very Queenly carrying her rambling husband like a garden gnome out the door, but she tried her best to at least talk like a Queen. Soon enough, the Queen exited the Diaz household, and was in the carriage to Mewni.

Angie and Rafael still sat at the table, with Star and Marco now separated from one another. Angie and Rafael awkwardly exchanged looks as they looked at their son.

"Congratulations, mijo?" Rafael said, unsure. "I would make you a cake, but there are no more eggs left." Rafael forced a chuckle. Marco awkwardly nodded and said nothing as he left the kitchen, leaving Star standing there with two awkward parents putting up dishes.

"You guys need any help?" Star asked, trying to break the silence. She may have gone a little too far again.

"Oh no, sweetie. We're okay." Angie spoke with a smile, giggling slightly. "You should probably go talk to your… boyfriend, though, he seems a little shell-shocked." Angie smirked as she noticed Star's cheeks flush red, her heart-marks glowing a bright pink.

Star blushed at the 'boyfriend' word. She and Marco hadn't really talked about it, and she had just said that in front of her parents. Star knew that he might still be technically dating Jackie, which certainly would be a little complicated for her. She hadn't really thought this through, and now she realized that she may have just royally screwed up her potential relationship with Marco. She facepalmed as she swallowed the mistake and slowly made her way upstairs.

* * *

Marco lay face down on his bed, arms at his side. Marco felt awkward around his parents and embarrassed that he had got caught up in Star's rhythm again, treating Moon and River as if they didn't exist and kissing their princess so… boldly right in front of them. Marco blushed as he remembered Star had called her his boyfriend. He was lying to himself to if he said he didn't like the sound of it. As expected, he heard a few knocks on his door. Without even waiting for the knocker to reveal themselves, he told them to come in.

"Come in," Marco said, loud enough to hear his muffled voice. The door opened and closed quickly as the person sat down on his bed. "Star?"

"Yeah, it's me Marco," Star said, more than a little ashamed. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened back there. It's just my dad was being so frustrating, and I wanted to show him that I'm not this little girl anymore, y'know?" Star tried explaining herself, but Marco didn't respond. Star took his silence as a cue to continue.

"I know that we didn't really talk about it, beforehand, and I'm like feeling really bad about it now, and I don't know if you've even broken up with Jackie yet and…" Star continued rambling, but Marco still didn't say anything. If there was one thing Star couldn't handle, it was the silent treatment. She awkwardly fidgeted as she tried to make things better by continuing talking.

"Marco, I know I do this sometimes, like back in the cave where I just sort of got lost in the moment, and then back there where I just got caught up in my own emotions, and I'm sorry? Okay, I really am." Star reached a hand out to the young man's shoulder.

Marco listened to Star's attempt at trying to patch things over and had to keep himself from laughing. The independent warrior princess was stumbling over an apology, to a karate-wielding safe kid. Marco felt bad about internally laughing at Star, but she was being really cute at the moment. He decided to stop torturing her and rolled over on his side, facing Star.

"Star," Marco said softly, grabbing her outstretched hand. "Do you remember the time where Mr. Candle told everyone their fortunes? And it was all a big scheme to get you and Tom back together?" Star nodded, scowling at the mention of Tom, her ex-boyfriend. "I remember you just hated the idea of being queen that day. I mean, you were willing to kill a mermaid!"

"Haha, yeah…" Star recalled as she remembered her half-shaved head and sharpening her battle-axe in her room. "She was surprisingly ok with it, y'know."

"Well," Marco continued, trying to pass over Star's willingness to murder, "I remember that you said you hated that you didn't have a choice, right? I'm kinda feeling the same way right now." Star's eyes dropped as she understood what Marco was saying, suddenly feeling her heart leap up to her throat. "Star, I broke up with Jackie today. I… broke her heart. Do you know why?"

"Why, Marco?" Star said, trying to hide the hurt in her voice. Her guilt over possibly ruining their relationship was something she had come to terms with while she was chasing after Toffee. She didn't like it, but she couldn't lie to herself any longer about Marco.

"Because, Star, I _want_ to be with you. I thought long and hard about what you mean to me, and what Jackie means to me, and…" Marco sighed as he rubbed the back of Star's hand. "You're just so important to me. I didn't want to lose you, and if I asked myself, you're the one who always makes me smile when the darkest skies are overhead." Marco shamelessly pulled a line from his mother, hoping it would really come in handy here. Star smiled somewhat, so Marco chalked it up as a win. "So, Star, I'm gonna do this the right way: Star Butterfly, will you be my girlfriend? Not because anyone else wants us to be together, or any Blood Moon thing, but because I, Marco Diaz, want you, Star Butterfly, to be mine and only mine?" Star wiped a tear from her eyes as she remembered why she really liked Marco, not for his fighting ability, or anything he did for her, but the way he made her feel. Like now, he made her feel like her own person, not the princess of a kingdom.

"Of course," Star said, leaning into Marco for a hug. "Marco Diaz, will you be my boyfriend? Not because blah blah blah, but because blah blah blah?" Star snickered as she teased her new boyfriend.

"Let me think about it…" Marco said jokingly. "Yes! Blah blah blah."

Star giggled as she snuggled into his shoulder, feeling the soft fabric of Marco's hoodie on her cheek. Star rubbed her cheek on his shoulder softly.

"So, it's a little weird that we've already kissed, right? Even weirder that I kissed you while you were dating Jackie?" Star said, realizing that all their kisses up until now had been as 'friends'.

"Yeah, kinda. I can't really believe I just… forgot about her. Did you forget too?" Marco asked, curious if she had experienced the same phenomenon.

"Sort of," Star started, recalling the shame she had felt about confessing in front of Jackie. "I didn't forget when I went to Mewni, but when you showed up to fight Toffee until you said her name in the kitchen yesterday, I didn't think of her once." Star's eyes closed as she tried to tell herself it was Marco's decision to break up with Jackie.

"That's weird. This blood moon thing is a headache," Marco grumbled. "But y'know, it isn't all bad. Every time we have kissed has been… intense. Like, heart-stopping intense," Marco said, recalling the cave, the throne room and now the kitchen. "You know, we're pretty uh, bold together." Marco scratched his cheek, trying not to seem too embarrassed.

"Yeah… I don't know what it is, but you make me go wild sometimes, Marco. Maybe it's cause you're so cute," Star cooed, pinching his cheek. Marco always made her smile, despite her guilt about Jackie.

"Alright, alright, don't go all mushy on me. I'm dating Star Butterfly, the rebel princess. My image of you is really gonna soften up if you keep on flirting like that." Marco said, taunting the princess. He really was getting a lot of enjoyment out of teasing Star.

"Oh, no! Wouldn't my image to go soft. Guess I'll just have to do something like…" Star stealthily reached her hands towards Marco's stomach as she spoke. "THIS!" Star tackled Marco and began tickling him viciously. Marco started laughing uncontrollably as he defended himself, wrenching himself away from Star's grabby hands. Marco rolled backwards and put out hands of his own, eying Star as a tiger would a meal. Marco dived across the bed as Star tried to dodge, but failed. Marco got a hand in and started tickling Star's side, causing her to let out a yelp of joy and began laughing too. Star retaliated as they both started tickling each other, tensing up and laughing all along the way. Eventually the both agreed to a ceasefire, staring wide-eyed at each other from across the bed.

"Do you concede defeat, Diaz? Stop now, and I might let you live," Star smugly said, wearing a cocky smile.

"Guess you must be rubbing off on me, rebel princess, 'cause I'll never surrender," Marco retorted, narrowing his eyes while keeping his hands out and circling around on his knees. Star lashed out a hand, trying to catch Marco off guard, but Marco's reactions caught her wrist with his hand. He cocked an eyebrow and a smirk at the now crippled Star, who only had one hand left. She made a Hail-Mary jab with her other hand, aiming right for Marco's side, but he dodged it and grabbed that wrist too. With no hands left, Star struggled a little before letting her wrists go limp, smirking slightly.

"I've been bested!" Star groaned dramatically. "By Marco Diaz! Oh, the shame! Well, such as it is, the winner now may ask anything of the loser, as is Mewnian dueling tradition." Star closed her eyes as she turned her head up to the side, peeking an eye at the flustered Marco. Marco regained his composure, grinning as his girlfriend played up her defeat, clearly trying to entice him into letting her win by giving her what she wanted. Marco saw right through Star, and decided he was going to be the winner today.

"Naturally," Marco said smugly. "Well then, Star, I only ask one thing of you: don't do anything." Marco watched as Star's fake-distressed face turned into one of confusion.

"Don't do anything? At all?" Star said, puzzled at Marco's meaning.

"Yup, nothing!" Marco folded his arms as he confirmed his request. _I'm gonna have fun with this._ Marco stared at Star in the eyes as he got up from the bed, watching her for any erroneous movements. Star sat on the bed, fidgeting slightly. Marco circled around the bed, as he walked out of Star's vision.

"So, like, nothing?" Star said, trying to break the newly formed silence.

"Ah-ah, not even words, Star," Marco said condescendingly. "I'll tell you when I'm done." Marco crawled onto the bed behind Star as she sat very still. Marco now noticed the back of her dress had little slits in it, which he found curious. It puzzled him greatly until Star moved a little, where he saw Star's Mewberty wings flex and flutter a little. _Oh yeah, these guys,_ Marco recalled, wondering why he forgot that she had wings. Marco unconsciously reached out a hand toward the slit, prying it open. Star tensed up as Marco opened the small slit for her wings. Star found it difficult to protest, or even to move at all. Not just difficult, but almost… impossible, if not physically, then mentally. It was as if every thought in her mind was telling her not to move or speak. Marco peeked through the hole and observed that maybe her wings were just a little bigger than he remembered? Marco stopped looking and circled around Star again. Her eyes were forward, very wide, and her cheek were puffed, looking like she was holding in laughter.

"Oh no, you aren't… ticklish on your wings, are you?" Marco said devilishly, watching as Star's near laughter face broke into one of terror. She started shaking her head vehemently but offered no words. Marco grinned wide as he slowly circled around Star, watching her eyes follow his tightly until he was too far to her side for her to follow. _She is being really good about this whole no words thing,_ Marco marveled, figuring by now Star would have Narwhal Blasted him or at least said something. Marco decided to press his luck though and crawled up behind her again. Soon enough he found the zipper and zipped the dress down just enough for him to see both of her Mewberty wings in all their glory. Their little glory.

"Star, if you want me to stop, all you have to do is say… uh, 'Blue Marble'." Marco said into Star's ear, which earned him a small shudder. He began rubbing the wings in between his hands first, expecting them to feel rough, but instead feeling like silk. He pulled them gently in various ways, up down, side to side, in, out, every which way. If Star was feeling ticklish, she was being very stone-faced. _Weird,_ Marco noted. Marco then moved his hands up and down the length of the wings, noticing that in fact there were 3 separate portions that just happened to fold on each other very smoothly. He found the parts where the wings met and ran his finger in between them, which made Star shudder slightly. Marco pressed them into Star's back, which surprisingly took very little effort. He let them stand freely, and they drooped slightly. _Maybe I like, broke them or something?_ Marco wondered, feeling worried. Marco now opted to leave her wings be and instead move to her back, taking care to keep his hands where he could see them. He traced circles around the skin where Star's wings emerged from. Star's wings fluttered at certain parts, and flexed at other parts. Marco was fascinated by the muscles which ran underneath his fingers, curious as to how a person with superhuman strength would have skin and muscle so… smooth. Star's breathing had gotten somewhat heavy, but Marco was too fascinated with the foreign objects in front of him to notice. He rubbed his thumbed around the base of her wings, finding some knots which he decided to work out for Star. He was no masseuse, but knowledge of chi flow from his karate lessons afforded him some basic knowledge of massages. After every knot, Star audibly sighed deeply. Marco traced an index finger around the top of her back, imagining what it would look like if they were adult wings. He was about done, but decided to try one last thing, and he leaned in very close to Star's back and blew cool air onto her wings, which caused Star to hunch over and place her hands in front of her on the bed. Marco was satisfied, and zipped Star's dress back up gently and circled around to Star's face. Star was breathing heavily, and her face was completely flushed red. Her eyes were downcast, but he could see they were tired, or something? Marco was still amazed at Star's discipline, and decided to officially be done with his exploration.

"Ok Star, I'm done, you can-" Marco started before Star pounced on him, her eyes hungering for something. Star gripped Marco's shoulders tightly as she straddled him, cheeks red and heart-marks glowing a deep orange. Her breathing had intensified, her chest heaving up and down with every labored breath. Her eyes scanned Marco's face, his chest, his arms, his legs, everything about him as Star sat on top of Marco. Every pass over seemed to satisfy Star whose face had broken into a sanguine smile. Marco seemed somewhat terrified as he lay trapped beneath his girlfriend, who still offered no words.

"Star, what's going on? Talk to me?" Marco said, trying to coax her into explaining what was wrong. He was lying if he said he wasn't scared as Star eyed him as she does his nachos.

"Bluemarblebluemarblebluemarblebluemarblebluemarblebluemarble," Star rapid-fire spoke. After the short outburst, Star continued, still breathing heavily. "Marco, 2 things: one, don't touch my wings without my permission. Ever. Two: what just happened there, was… weird. But like, the good kind of weird. But like the kind of weird where I'm not ok with it right now, but probably will be in the future. Yeah? Oh, and three, we definitely have to talk about the Blood Moon thing, like now."

"Star, that was 3 things," Marco said, the smile and deep breathing still present on Star's face. Marco now took notice of her heart-marks, currently glowing a deep-orange. It was the first time he'd ever seen that color.

"Yeah, yeah Marco. I'm uh, not really thinking straight right now. In fact, all I wanna do is just smooch your face, but I don't want to reward you for your bad behavior," Star said plainly, hunger still in her eyes. She wasn't lying when said she just wanted to smooch Marco. Ticklish isn't really the right word for how it felt when Marco played with her wings. What's the word Marco used… heart-stopping, is closer to how it felt. As he ran his fingers down her wings, she felt all her stress wash away, even stress she didn't know she had. The feeling didn't stop there, though. As he continued, she felt like someone had placed her entire upper body in a warm bath, feeling the warmth embrace her from where he touched. Her skin tingled, and her body begged for more air as her brain relinquished all thoughts outside of 'this feels nice, feel it more'. The cool air Marco had blown onto her wings was enough to make her previously rigid muscles move. No, it wasn't that Star didn't like how it felt. Star knew that if she didn't stop Marco there, she was going to do… something. She didn't know what, but even now as she sat on him, she had to use every ounce of her willpower to not assault him with affection.

Marco nodded as Star passively checked him out, trying to hide an awkward smile as he sought to defuse the situation. "My bad, Star. I just think your wings are pretty. And humans don't have them, so I got a little carried away. I won't do it again," Marco promised with a quiet voice. It was more out of fear than respect, but he still meant it.

Star continued to stare at Marco beneath her, her grip still tight on his shoulders. Star knew that they shouldn't do anything here, Marco's parents were right downstairs, and every moment straddling Marco was another moment of risk. But Star loved risk and danger. The door was even closed too, which made the back of her brain tingle with excitement. She forced herself to accept that it wasn't a good idea, however. Star physically made her muscles loosen their grip on Marco's shoulders. She then slowly slid off Marco to the side, calming her breathing and nerves. She looked in the mirror and noticed her cheeks were glowing a different color than usual. _Is that… orange? Nah, probably just the sunset,_ Star thought as she brought her body under her control again, slowing her breathing, trying to normalize her face's color.

Marco stared at the ceiling, listening to his heart pound in his chest. He wasn't used to seeing Star be so aggressive yet. Although with how their past romantic encounters have gone, he figured should get used to it.

"So, you think my wings are pretty?" Star said, still trying to catch her breath. She began undoing her braided hair, tired of the tightness. "Y'know, that's a pretty brave move, Marco. Feeling up a girl's wings like that, while she can't do a thing to defend herself? And then after you're done having your way with 'em, tell her you're sorry, but her wings are pretty? You're less safe than you let on, Marcooo." Star cooed gently at him, an air of desire still lingering on her words. Marco blushed at Star's admonishments, realizing he did just freely grope at her body without a second thought.

"I'm sorry Star, I didn't really mean to-" Marco began, preparing a lengthy explanation before Star cut him off, giggling.

"Marco, you're fine!" Star sat back on her hands as she continued. "It was just surprisingly risqué of you. Didn't think you had it in you. Besides…" Star quieted as she looked off to the side. "…it was pretty good, too."

"Besides what?" Marco said, straining to hear Star as she finished.

"Nothing!" Star chuckled as she looked back at Marco excitedly. "So, we gonna talk about this Blood Moon thing or what?" Star was eager to figure out just what exactly it meant. It hadn't affected them before now, but clearly, after they separated, something changed.

For a while Marco and Star talked, exchanging ideas about the Blood Moon. They shared their individual experiences, including Marco's memory loss, his travel into the pseudo-realm of Blood Moon Mewni, and his unending desire to make out with Star in the kitchen. Star recalled how her photoshoot had seemed like a surreal fever dream, and she wasn't even going to check to see if it was real until she heard Marco downstairs. She shared how she could see Marco when her eyes closed in Mewni, thinking it was some hallucination at first, made from her boredom. Star also explained her body's refusal to listen properly to her during Marco's daring exploration on Star's wing, saying she had never felt so scared or frustrated. They both discussed the patterns they saw: order-following, thought-sharing, desire, fear of separation, and some sort of need to show off. However, they both came to the same conclusion: neither of them really knew anything about the Blood Moon.

"So, what do you think we should do?" asked Marco, noticing the sun had long since gone down as they discussed. Star and Marco lay on opposite ends of the bed, some papers with notes on them between the two. "We could try talking to Tom, but I have a feeling he's still gonna be a little upset," Marco remembered the Blood Moon Ball in question, where he had severely underestimated Star and her ability to handle herself. It had almost gotten him killed until Star saved him.

"Yeah…" Star said, sighing. "That's probably a bad idea. We could always check the royal library in the castle, but that place is boooring." Star recalled her search for spells, noting that what probably was only about 20 hours felt like an entire week.

"You think they would even have a book about it? Doesn't it only happen once every 667 years?" Marco wondered out loud, curious to find out exactly what the Blood Moon could do, and how much of it was going to change him.

"I dunno. We could just go ask Tom's dad, but that guy is a total weirdo. He probably isn't very happy about what happened at the ball either," Star yawned. Incasing the son of the host in a block of ice at his own party wasn't really something she saw going over well.

"You think Queen Moon would know anything about it?" Marco inquired. Star sat up and faced Marco, alarmed.

"Marco," Star muttered seriously. "You cannot tell my mom or my dad about the Blood Moon. There is a very serious rule about no unprotected magic rituals in the Butterfly household. If they find out that I was involved in anything like that, _especially_ with you, it isn't going to be pretty." Star stared at Marco, hoping to communicate the seriousness in her words.

"Like ground you, 'not pretty'?" Marco replied, hoping that might be the worst.

"Like, take the wand away and your scissors and lock me in the castle for a year, 'not pretty'," Star replied, recalling the lecture late one night after Star had found a summoning circle in a cave. Her mother had never been so livid, her eyes glowing white against the backdrop of Star's room, the Queen's magic power surging through the air, her large wings tense as she grabbed Star by the shoulders and squeezed too tight, boring holes with her vision. Star shuddered as the memory vividly came back to her.

"Oh…" Marco realized that this was paramount now. If he lost Star without any way to get to her, he might break. "Speaking of, can I have my scissors back?" Marco held out a hand, and Star fetched them from her bag. "Why did you have them anyways?"

"The spell that made the magic stay on Earth was canceled when I left for good, but your dimensional scissors just went back to Hekapoo. She brought them to me after she healed," Star explained. "Don't know why she was so upset at me, though." Marco took the scissors from Star and placed them into his hoodie.

"Oh right, her. I wonder how she's doing…" Marco pondered out loud, recalling that brief 16 years where all he did was chase. The details were too fuzzy, but he remembered her and Nachos. A mere 8 minutes of respite, it felt like.

"Why? Wanna go say hi?" Star teased, with a little more jealousy than she had intended.

"Nah," Marco said, flopping over to face Star. "I do want to see Nachos though. Best dragon-cycle a man could ask for." Marco reminisced longingly before something struck him as odd.

"Wait, if my scissors left with you when you went to Mewni…" Marco wondered, putting a hand on his chin. "How did I get to Mewni?" Star cocked her head at Marco, curious as to what he meant.

"I just figured you talked to Pony Head or something," Star replied, confused. "I mean she could've easily… ahem, 'borrowed' a pair for you."

"I don't think so, Star. I went right upstairs after you, so did I just… travel by myself?" Marco thought out loud, now realizing that his departure may have been much more serious than he had thought. Star waved a hand at Marco as she spoke.

"Pfft, no way Marco. If you had some _really_ epic magic, maaaaybe. Like, Glossaryck level. There's a reason why we use scissors. Using the original dimensional magic is like, doing a thousand karate lessons all at once, in one second. I'm not even sure I could do it, and I've got the wand." Star waved her wand at Marco, before starting to toss it into the air and catching it.

"Yeah," Marco said, still thinking in his head. "I guess you're right. Besides, the one time I looked at your spell book, I started levitating in the air. I probably couldn't handle that kinda magic."

"Yeah," Star dejectedly replied. "Eclipsa's chapter does have that effect on some people. Didn't really bother me much, though." Star recalled the dark spells she had seen in Eclipsa's chapter, wondering why they were still in there if they were so dangerous.

"Oh yeah, hey Marco what are you doing two days from now?" Star asked, remembering that she was supposed to ask him to co-host the assembly for the people. Marco knew he didn't have any set plans, but he made an effort to think about it anyways.

"Probably catching up on some long-missed sleep, why?" Marco lazily replied, curious as to Star's inquiry. If she was planning something, she wouldn't bother telling him until it was about to happen.

"So, after my Song Day performance, the kingdom's people haven't really liked having things kept from them. To help fix our public image, my parents are making me host this assembly thing where anyone can ask questions of the royal family. I'm a little nervous I'm gonna mess it up, so I was wondering if you would help me?" Star looked pleadingly into Marco's eyes, praying that he would even consider it. She asks so much of him and relies on him so much more than she ever realized. Asking him for anything seemed selfish, but she had to ask.

"I dunno, Star. I'm technically your boyfriend now, but are your people really gonna like seeing some foreigner stand above them with the royal family?" Marco mused. "I'm not really sure how much I could help you anyways. I don't really know the first thing about Mewnian culture, especially not enough to answer questions." Marco wanted to help Star where he could, but this was a rather large problem that Marco wasn't sure he was ready for.

"Oh, it'll be fine Marco!" Star tried not to sound desperate as she pushed him more. "Besides, you'll mostly be there for moral support anyways! I've seen my parents do these things plenty of times!"

"Star, I want to help you out here, I do, but in only two days? Maybe if it was next week, I'd be ok with it, but…" Marco noticed Star's face turn into her signature 'puppy dog sad face frown'. He hated admitting that that usually worked on him. "Star, what would I even learn in two days? I love history, so I could probably pick up Mewni's timeline easily, but aren't their procedures? Like, nobility things that I'd have to do? Bowing, paying respects, dressing up?" Star nodded excitedly. "Star, if you really, _really_ want me to be there, I guess I can. But you're gonna be answering all the questions ok? I'm just there for moral support."

"Yay! I knew you'd say yes, Marco!" Star squealed as she pulled him into a strong hug. "Marco, you're the best."

"I know, Star," Marco replied, returning Star's hug. "But seriously, you're answering all the questions. I'm not gonna make a fool out of myself in front of your parents… again."

"Yes, boyfriend." Star nuzzled into Marco's polo before releasing the hug. "If it makes you feel better, you didn't really make a fool of yourself down there. It was mostly me."

"Well, I guess it usually is," Marco said, resigning to his fate as the receiver of aggression, the defender. It fit him, but the inevitability of it seemed… underwhelming. Star blushed a little, wondering for a moment if Marco really liked when she engaged first.

"Anyways, Star," Marco started abruptly, "it is getting late, and I need to sleep. Just let me know in the morning what the plan is, alright?" Marco leaned in to kiss Star on the cheek, but she surprised him with a wet kiss on the lips instead. Marco recoiled instinctually, catching Star's satisfied grin before she hopped off the bed and skipped out of his room. Seeing her bound out of his room allowed a satisfied grin to pass onto his face. To call them boyfriend and girlfriend now, it was something. He'd moved on so quickly from Jackie, but he supposed he emotionally had moved on days ago. He still felt guilt, shame, and anger at himself for the way he felt, but no matter how many times he asked, he didn't ever want to lose Star. That much he could be certain of.


	7. Lessons

Marco straightened his back as he stepped down the stairs of his home, anxious about how to approach his parents. He had intentionally woken up before Star to try and smooth things over with the two of them. He'd no idea what Star's plans for him were, but it would probably involve going to some other dimension. He stepped gingerly into the kitchen, where his mother was brewing a pot of coffee.

"Hey, Mom," Marco sheepishly said.

"Oh, Marco! You're up early," Angie responded, giving her son a warm smile. "How is my handsome son doing on this lovely morning?" Angie cooed, pouring herself a cup of coffee, searching for creamer and sugar.

"I'm uh, exhausted. The last two days have been hectic, heh," Marco replied awkwardly, unsure how to broach the subject. "Hey, uh, so, um… Me and Star, right?" Marco forced a laugh as he tried to coax his mother into starting the conversation.

"Yeah, you and Star, mijo," Angie amusingly said, trying to hide a growing smile on her face. "That was, what's the word… sensational of you Marco. In front of the King and Queen, no less." Angie let the smile break through to her face as she watched her son avoid her gaze. Angie sipped on the coffee, vying to add another sugar.

"Yeah, don't remind me, Mom," Marco groaned, casting his eyes aside and scratching his neck. "Not really how I wanted to break the news to her parents. I think we might have broken King River."

"Yeah, he wasn't looking too good, huh?" Angie giggled as her now perfect cup of coffee sat warm in her hands. "Marco, while we're talking about it… if you and Star and dating for real now, there's gonna be a strict open door policy enforced from now on. You're to both be in bed before midnight, and there'll be no interdimensional travel without asking me or your father first, okay? I can't stand sitting in this house without knowing if you'll come back, mijo." Angie sighed as she sipped on her coffee. "Queen Moon and I came to an agreement while your father and I were in Mewni. She told us that if we can't find you again to use something called a 'Traveler's Whistle', one of which she gave us. She said it would alert her and she would send her best guards after you, and forcefully bring you back here. Don't make me use it, okay?" Angie stared at her son from across the room, aware of how disappointing this must be for him. He'd had so much freedom before, but now she was taking that away from him.

"Yeah, Mom, I got it," Marco said, resolving to try to never make his parents worry about him again. "Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure Star wants me to go to Mewni today and tomorrow. I'm supposed to go to some thingy for the people, or… something. I don't really know." Marco shrugged as he recalled his agreement with Star last night.

"Alright, Marco. Let me know when you're leaving, and let me know when you get back, no matter what time." Angie waltzed over and pecked Marco on the cheek before placing a warm hand on his shoulder. "Don't make me worry about you, my precious, only son." Angie looked into Marco's eyes sadly, trying to cope with the fact that her baby boy was growing up a little too fast for her to be comfortable with.

"Of course, Mom," Marco reassured. "I promise I won't just leave again. Not like last time." Marco smiled as he left the kitchen, happy his mother at least wasn't upset at him for ruining their dinner with the Butterfly family. It wasn't every night that you got the opportunity to dine with royalty.

Marco resolved to prepare himself as much as he could for whatever Star had in store for him. It seemed really important that he be at this meeting thing with her, so he focused on sucking up any doubts he had about whatever he was going to do and tell himself it was for Star. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. _In. Out. In. Hold. Hold. Out._ Marco fell into a comfortable rhythm as he sat on his bed, hands on his knees. He had become accustomed to purging himself of negative thoughts in the morning. His sensei had told him beginning any day with cloudy thoughts only brings rain. Jackie's face crept into his mind more than once, but instead of pushing those thoughts away, he confronted them, replacing guilt and shame with happiness via his confidence about his feelings for Star. He didn't like to admit it, but Star was his anchor. His beautiful, wildly flailing constant in his life.

As if on command, Star knocked thrice on Marco's door. Star always knocked as if there were no one in the room, gentle as a summer's breeze. Marco broke out of his breathing rhythm and opened his eyes as he stood up to answer the door.

"Hey Star," Marco said before he even opened the door. She stood cutely at the door frame, hands behind her back, dressed in her normal outfit, hair loose. A small part of Marco had hoped she would still have that beautiful ball-gown on that she had yesterday, but no luck.

"Are you ready to learn the ways of Mewnian royalty Marcooo?" Star beamed, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Wait what? I've gotta learn how to be royalty?" Marco groaned, annoyed. "Isn't it just a bunch of bowing, kissing hands and saying 'milord' and 'milady'?" Marco didn't know the first thing about being royalty, and he wasn't sure a 1-day crash course was going to help him much.

"Oh, sweet, sweet Marco…" Star put a hand on Marco's shoulder, offering him sorrowful eyes. "Manfred is going to teach you just how wrong you are. I bet you don't even know how to shake hands with a noble, do you?" Star mused, taking joy in having the upper hand on Marco for once.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong princess," Marco gloated, surprised that Clarence's lesson would come in handy so quickly. "Let me show you the, *ahem* 'Mewman's Arm-Pact'." Marco used the official name to try and impress Star. She cocked an eyebrow as Marco spoke, intrigued as how he even knew that name, much more so at how he seemed to know what he was doing. Star held out an arm as Marco slowly performed the handshake, clearly having a little trouble remembering the steps. Eventually, he found his way through it, much to Star's surprise. However, she giggled after Marco turned his head up and adopted a cocky smile.

"That's how you shake hands with a noble, is it Marco?" Star said, grinning wide. She was impressed, but he had gotten it totally wrong.

"Isn't it?" Marco replied, less sure now that Star pressed him.

"The anchor-arm is used between two men, first off. Second off, it's seen as a sign of mutual respect, which nobles do not like. Nobles don't want equal footing, especially from non-royalty. They want and crave vanity and respect. Third off, I bet you heard that the taller guy rotates on top first, right? That's only if it's two men of battle. If you're using it in a social situation, it's courtesy for the initiator to rotate on bottom and hold." Star spat out the knowledge which had been drilled into her from a young age. She wasn't amazed anymore at how easily she remembered these little things. "But, I'm still impressed that you knew what you were doing at all. Bravo, Marco." Star offered a sincere finish, hoping to soften the blow to Marco's ego.

"Oh…" Marco said, hanging his head a bit. "Guess I've got a lot to learn still, then." Marco didn't let his blunder affect him too much, resolving to have to learn at least how to behave properly around important people. Well, besides Star.

"Probably, but you're good at learning quickly, Marco. You'll be fiiiine." Star dragged at the last words as she made a show of checking him out. He didn't need to know she was imagining him in a tailor-made suit.

"Contain yourself, princess," said Marco. He put a hand up to Star, palm out as he spoke. "I'm gonna keep the boyfriend stuff down to a minimum in front of your parents, just so you know. I think they got the message yesterday, and I really don't want to be snapped in half by your dad after dating you for a day. It'd be the worst tragedy since Romeo and Juliet."

"What's a 'Romeo and Juliet'?" Star responded, wondering if she should be worried.

"You didn't pay attention in English literature, did you? Romeo and Juliet were star-crossed lovers that loved each other too much, but then they sort accidentally killed themselves because they were from different families. Big deal." Marco tried to instill the wonders of Shakespeare to Star, but she just shrugged.

"Here you thought Earth and Mewni were so different! We've got a ton of children's tales like that there!" Star excitedly responded, wanting to tell Marco the story of 'The 100 Princess Royale'.

"It isn't a children's story Star, it's like a super important play by one of the best authors of all… You know what, let's just get to Mewni." Marco sighed as he accepted the fact that Star didn't care the least bit about Shakespeare.

"Sounds like a good idea Marco, let's go! Cut the portal and let's get you started!" Star jumped up and down, clearly more excited than Marco was. She knew it was going to be hard for him, but after so much integration into the Diaz family, Star was ready to bring Marco into the Butterfly fold, at least a little bit.

"Sure, let me just go tell Mom," Marco said somewhat strangely. He was going to have to get used to this for sure.

"Tell your Mom? You never did that before," Star remarked curiously.

"Yeah, well I kinda have to. I left without telling her once and I was gone for 4 days. I can handle myself, she knows that but…" Marco bit his lip, reminding himself that she was his Mom. "I made her worry. Like, I was gone to her. Just like you were to me, Star."

Star didn't know what it felt like to have someone be… gone like that. But as she looked at Marco, somehow, she could feel it. The way his heart ached, spreading pain like a virus, slowly expanding outwards from his chest. Tears falling effortlessly from his eyes, clenching his fists and hitting the space where her room used to be. Feeling the cold wood bruise his knuckles, his shoulders struggling to keep their shape, threatening to collapse in on his body, desiring to coil up into his legs. She felt his legs give out beneath him as sank to his knees, letting out sobs of anguish. She felt his hand reach up to his chest, clutching at his heart, begging it to stop, telling himself it was inevitable. He clutched at the void inside himself, pleading with himself to just give up on her. She felt his resolve as he burst into his room, tears stopping themselves as he found a goal, a purpose to drive his hurt towards. He's done it before, and he'll do it a thousand times to save her. She felt his pain as he looked at his parents in his room before hysterically explaining that she was really gone.

Star didn't even realize she was crying when Marco pulled her into a hug. She felt the tears roll off her cheeks as she lightly returned the hug, overwhelmed at the burst of emotion. _Does Marco always carry around that kinda weight?_ Star wondered to herself incredulously, rubbing into Marco's hoodie.

"Yeah, sorry you had to see... uh, feel that Star," Marco muttered, feeling vulnerable. "And before you ask, no I don't know how that just happened." Marco tried to distract Star from asking him if he was feeling alright because he wasn't really, but he was good at pretending.

"Anyways, let's get to Mewni, ok? I'll be right back." Marco left in a hurry, trying to avoid Star's gaze as he rushed downstairs, nearly tripping on the last step.

"Hey, Mom!" Marco yelled to the kitchen. "Star and I are leaving for Mewni! I'll be back in time for dinner!" Marco waited a moment for a response.

"Okay honey! Have fun!" Angie yelled from the kitchen. Marco trotted upstairs to a tear-free, gently smiling Star. He could feel her smile was somewhat fake, but he didn't bother asking her. He grabbed his scissors from his room and cut a portal in the hallway. Marco jumped through the portal first, hoping Star wouldn't ask if he was feeling alright.

As Marco and Star exited the portal, they arrived at the foot of the castle, on the stone steps before the gate, which had two guards on the ground, and 2 more sentries with oversized crossbows in the watchtowers above. It was colder than Marco expected for this time of year, but the cooler air was a welcome change from the sweltering heat of a California summer. Star took the lead as she walked up to the guard on the left, adopting an aura of royalty.

"Reddington! How good to see you again," Star smiled as she recognized the guard, one of her few confidants in her chase after Toffee.

"I'm humbled you remember me, my liege," Reddington spoke with a soft, low voice as he bowed, halberd still in hand. "Shall I let you through?"

"Yes, as well as this man," Star said confidently as she gestured to Marco. Marco offered an awkward wave to the scrupulous guard, who was narrowing his eyes at him.

"I would without hesitation normally, princess," Reddington spoke suspiciously of the young boy clad in a red garb with some sort of extra linen on the back. "But I must ask, who is this boy? The Queen gets very cross when I let in people in I don't know." Star offered an aloof chuckle as she dropped her smile and stared intensely at the guard, who cowered away slightly.

"Reddington, memorize the face of this man. This is Marco Diaz. If he ever comes in alone, you let him in without asking a single question, okay?" Star spoke calmly but with purpose as she stared the man who was a foot taller than her down.

"I'm terribly sorry, Princess Butterfly," Reddington apologized as he offered a deep bow. "I wasn't aware this was _the_ Marco Diaz. I'll open the gate for you two immediately." Reddington stood upright and signaled to the sentry on top of the right tower. The gate opened slowly, revealing the outer courtyard of the castle. Marco had only been through here once while they were rushing through the night, but now that he had a chance to really observe it, it was gorgeous. It looked like something out of a children's picture-book, with multi-colored flowerbeds placed with care all over the base of the castle. He could see people tending to the pathways, watering the flowers, and various people of some import talking with other such people.

"Hey, Star, I've been kinda wondering for a while," Marco started as Star led him through the winding pathways to the castle proper. "Why does everyone here call me _the_ Marco Diaz? I mean, even that guard knew who I was. I've never met him before in my life."

"Oh, yeah…" Star responded, now realizing how the guard immediately changed his tone when she identified Marco. "I dunno, really. I mean the first time anyone had even heard of you was at Song Day." Star cringed as she remembered the disaster that was song Day.

"Right… I guess it's kinda why I'm here in the first place, right?" Marco hazarded a laugh to which Star responded with a small smile. Eventually, they wound through enough corridors and staircases to approach the throne room. It was even more impressive in the daylight, the giant wooden door sitting imposingly closed. Star pulled out her wand and waved it at the door, where it opened effortlessly. King River and Queen Moon barely registered their entry, as they were currently talking to a group of people, clad in ridiculous looking poofed out pants and shirts.

"…and that's why we need more money for the next performance, your grace." The man in the middle bowed. He was about as tall as Marco and had a high-pitched, nasally voice.

"Darien," Queen Moon spoke, addressing the man in a bored tone. "I simply cannot offer any more money to you. Our royal quartermaster indicated that instead of purchasing a new lute with the last donation, you instead bought your troupe 3 rounds of the finest High-Mountain ale the tavern in town could offer. Perhaps next time you'll be more discreet and responsible with royal funds." Queen Moon scolded the songstrel with an air of indifference, clearly indicating it's been a long day already. "Your current equipment and outfits will suffice. Perhaps some noble would be willing to donate money?" Queen Moon laced her words with hidden venom, which clearly went over the head of the middle-aged man.

"O-of course my queen," Darien said, shaken at his 'secret' purchases being discovered. "Your grace," he bowed quickly before funneling out his band of miscreants, all looking particularly sad. Marco and Star took the troupe's place, standing side by side at the bottom of the steps.

"Ah, Star," Queen Moon said with an air of renewed vigor. "Lovely of you to come so early with Marco." Queen Moon turned to address Marco. "Has Star told you what you'll be doing today, Marco?" If Queen Moon held any ill will towards him, she was masking it well.

"I'm gonna learn how to shake hands with nobles?" Marco jokingly said, offering an awkward laugh.

Queen Moon smiled as she giggled warmly. "Yes, I suppose Manfred will teach you many things you do not yet know Marco. The assembly is tomorrow, so we had better get you started." Queen Moon gestured some hidden language at the guards lining the walls, who all began filtering out the remaining people in the throne room. "But first, we have a moment or two to spare for us all to talk." Marco suddenly felt a cold air overtake him as he noticed King River's intense stare. He was leering at Marco, his blue marbles for eyes focused on Marco's features, watching for any erroneous movements.

"Star," Queen Moon said, "Marco Diaz is now your boyfriend, correct?" King River's eye began twitching ever so slightly.

"He is, Mom," Star responded confidently. "We talked about it yesterday."

"Then at the assembly tomorrow, you two will make an official Proclamation of Love." Queen Moon said suddenly, realizing that Star wasn't going to be ready for this.

"What!?" Star shouted, gaping at her mother. "We've been dating for like 12 hours, Mom!"

"Then shall I ask Marco if he will do it?" Queen Moon challenged her daughter, knowing that Marco Diaz couldn't possibly-

"Do what, Moon? I mean, uh, Queen Moon," Marco Diaz stammered, offering a poor excuse for a bow, his back not nearly straight enough.

"She basically wants us to tell everyone in the kingdom we're dating now," Star angrily said, glowering at her mother.

"What's the big deal about that?" Marco responded, not sure why Star would even be worried about people knowing they are dating. He had to admit he was a little hurt.

"Oh no, no, no, Marco, it's not like that, it's just…" Star replied quickly, aware of how Marco took what she just said.

"Except it's more of a pledge of protection, as well as a public declaration of your feelings for my daughter," Queen Moon jutted in. "After your bold display last night, that shouldn't be an issue, right? Although if you choose not to, you'll have to contend with the other hundreds of suitors asking for the princess' hand." Queen Moon couldn't be happier with herself, as she saw Marco's eyes shift from an uncertain look to the determined gaze her husband had when she told him about this. King River clenched his teeth together as he looked away to the side.

"Marco, you really don't have to, you know I'd never go for any of those other princes." Star tried to coax Marco out of it, knowing that this was a magically binding ritual. But as she stared at him from the side, she surrendered nearly all hope of her talking him out of it.

"I'll do it," Marco said intensely as he stared gently at Queen Moon, "Your grace." If Marco Diaz weren't so charming, and the now boyfriend of her beloved daughter, she would call him out on his defiance. However, seeing the innocent commoner from Earth so willingly pledge his life for her daughter made her heart swell ever so slightly.

"Lovely, Marco," Queen Moon happily replied, giving a genuine smile. "I should warn you that it is no simple declaration. It is a magically binding ritual, simple as it may be." Queen Moon paused, taking in any changes in Marco's expression. He stared stone-faced at her, giving her a cue to continue. "All you must do is grab Star's hand, look into her eyes and say the following phrase: 'I do declare to the heavens above and all their eyes upon us that I love (you say her name here), and my oath to protect you will waver only in death or dishonor.' Star finishes the words of power, and then you then seal the ritual with a kiss." Queen Moon paused again, waiting for Marco to soak up the knowledge. "You needn't worry about anything changing though, as all it really does is confirm your feelings with a magical display. It's quite grand, really. Lots of beautiful colors usually spring out after the kiss. It's said that the size of the magical light show afterward is a sign of your feelings towards one another, but I doubt that."

"Okay, well I guess since you two already know, what's the difference between 2 people and a kingdom of strangers, right?" Marco laughed as he scratched the back of his head. Star rolled her eyes at her mother, who she noted was getting quite chummy with Marco.

"Okay, great mom. Can we get Marco started on his lessons? I have a feeling he'll explode if he doesn't get it perfect by tomorrow." Star said, annoyed at her mother for pushing them so much.

"Yes, Star," Queen Moon replied, dropping the smile from her face. "You have work to do as well. You've been away from the kingdom, so your father and I need to give you the rundown on what's been occurring." Star groaned as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Marco, Manfred will be here shortly. You're to follow him and get started. Give him some time, as he's an excellent teacher, just a little… impatient." Queen Moon said gently, remembering how Star's etiquette lessons had nearly made Manfred quit his job.

Soon enough Manfred did arrive. He was dressed in some purple and white ensemble, with a poofed hat and short leggings. He bowed to Marco as he began explaining precisely what they were going to do today, speaking with an air of indifference and disinterest. Manfred led Marco to some corner of the castle, near the kitchen. Manfred began with a short outline of what they were to learn today. There was… quite a lot. 7 different ways to greet a noble, how to address nobles according to classical and modern interpretations, 13 different physical greetings for nobles, how to address commoners while maintaining an air of aloofness, how to speak to commoners… Marco's head spun as he realized he would need to learn all of this in less than 30 hours. And still sleep. He never had to cram for tests before, so this was going to be a new experience on many accounts.

* * *

Ludo's brow oozed sweat as he returned to the familiar fishing spot he'd found the day before. Survival was no longer a task for Ludo, it was in his blood. This being the second time he started with nothing, he was getting quite used to it. The past few days have been arduous, dealing with the sweltering heat of the surprisingly small valley and with the unclimbable stone bowl behind him, its features too smooth to allow for any progress to be made height wise. Even where the bowl met the jungle was too high for Ludo to climb to. He missed the feeling of the air flowing over and through his wings. Toffee had granted him that power, but now he was gone. He hadn't even made any effort to reveal himself after they had been forced through the portal. However, Ludo's middle finger on his right hand was still gone, which meant Toffee was in there somewhere. But he couldn't worry about the problems of the mind when he needed to eat, to cool himself off and to work towards escaping this valley.

Ludo fished for a while, hanging a piece of fruit by a string into the water gently, waiting for a moment to strike. Eventually one such fish investigated the curious piece of food floating on the water. Ludo had patience here; too many times had a meal slipped out from his grasp because he was too eager or hungry. It killed him to wait as his next meal was so close, but a patient hunter is a well-fed hunter. The fish swam around the fruit, to and fro, as if deciding whether or not to eat. Eventually it decided the piece was safe. It was wrong. With practiced speed, Ludo dashed his hand into the water in front of the fish, as it panicked and tried to escape, only to wind up in the clutches of Ludo's hands. Ludo smiled devilishly as the fish squirmed in his hands, watching it's betrayed, panicked eyes search desperately for a means of escape. It would find none, as Ludo smashed the fish's head against a nearby rock until it stopped moving. _One fish is enough, today,_ Ludo thought aimlessly. He had spent most of his effort yesterday working on a ladder, trying to scale the bowl, but it failed at the last instant. He decided today would be a day of leisure. Relatively speaking anyways.

Ludo trudged back to his camp, nestled into that hollowed-out tree he'd slept in the first night. Ludo stuck to the shadows of the trees, mostly, not keen on burning himself like he did the second day. He saw his camp through the breaks in the vine-groves, somewhat decorated with fish bones and flowers. He'd made a crude fire circle earlier that morning, as the nights here were too cold to avoid fire. He had remembered from his previous expedition how to make fire and sought about gathering what he needed. Wood was in no short supply, but tinder was more difficult to find. After searching for roughly an hour, Ludo found enough tinder to get at least a few fires started. He made quick work, letting himself fall into a routine of fire making. Warm the tinder, grab a stick and start twirling. Use a wrapped string to make it better. Twirl. Twirl. Twirl. Blow onto the tinder. Smoke, good. Twirl. Twirl. Wipe the sweat away. Twirl. A small flame, let it grow, let it grow… big enough, blow some air onto it, lay the log on top. Make sure it didn't smother the flame… fire.

Ludo sat on a rock as he removed all of the gross parts of the fish. He didn't like the eyes, or most of the guts, especially the stomach. It was usually too rancid for even him to eat. He tossed the skin over to the pile he had created, and poked through the remainder of the meat with his cooking stick. He held it over the open flame, occasionally turning it. He tried to focus on relaxing, but he couldn't. Every spare moment he spent in this place was another moment of torture. He recalled chasing through the cave after that cursed princess and her wand. The boy was there too, he guessed. He was less angry now, though. Survival had taken its fair toll on Ludo, stripping his will to spend unnecessary energy. This time he wasn't even sure he was on Mewni. Getting back to any relevant dimension was going to be impossible at this rate. He wasn't sure if this place had any people on it, but someone must have built the bowl. That thought kept him alive, kept him surviving. He hadn't seen anything that had intelligence move, however. It had been a lonely few days in the valley, but then again Ludo always was alone. Whether he heard the voices of others or not, it was always just Ludo. His parents always hated him growing up, and most of his brothers just kicked him around and picked on him. He was the runt, never able to soar above the trees. He felt inferior because of that. Ludo closed his eyes as he remembered the assault on his parents' castle. It was underwhelming, as they were out on holiday. Most of the guards simply left when they saw Ludo's small army approach. They left their weapons, beds, food. It had been too easy, and when his parents arrived to try and talk Ludo out of the castle, he tossed them their crowns from the top of the wall-walk, not even looking at them as the crowns fell. He smiled that day, and he smiled now. It was the beginning of a Ludo who was where he should be: on top.

At least it was supposed to be. For a time, Ludo enjoyed his new position, enjoying the days with his monster army. Until a small girl wandered into the swamp, a Mewman girl. One of his best monsters, Buff Frog identified her as the newest Butterfly princess. Ludo saw an opportunity to ransom the young girl off to her parents, making a pretty penny and securing his future as the new king of the swamps. But the princess wiped the floor with him, leaving him stuck in the mud for hours, after delivering a powerful punch and kick combo. He was never that fit, but it was just one little girl, right? So, he tried, again and again. Countless times, various schemes to lure her into the castle, trap her in some nefarious device, all foiled by the girl's ingenuity and quick reflexes. Ludo stopped after a time, saying to his monsters she wasn't worth the trouble. But then he heard about the wand. A magical artifact that could bend to the user's will, and bring about any number of magical wonders. Or terrors, in Ludo's case. He made it his mission to get the wand, planning a grand heist on her 14th birthday. However, she had been sent to some other dimension, causing him to think on the fly. He hadn't enjoyed losing, but he kept on trying. Her new sidekick was more formidable than he expected, and the two of them admittedly wiped the floor with him and his monsters. He was going to get that wand, even if it meant the death of him. He had trusted Toffee too easily the first time, and now he was inside of Ludo's head. Ludo didn't know what Toffee knew, and Toffee knew quite a bit. For now, Ludo couldn't worry about Toffee if he wasn't going to show himself.

The sun slowly set on the jungle as Ludo ate his somewhat cooked fish, enjoying the additional flavor added by the campfire. It was just good enough to make him miss properly cooked food on Mewni. He hadn't realized the simplest things could make you recall even the most mundane things about previous lives. He lay down by the fire, praying it wasn't going to rain that night. It was too dark to do much of anything else, so he closed his eyes and imagined what it would be like to hold the wand in his hand, feeling its magic coursing through his hands, his will imposed on all those around him, bowing before him. He drifted off to sleep happily, snuggling into the earth beneath him.

* * *

Perhaps he hadn't done this right. Toffee sighed out loud as he sat in pitch blackness. He was sure that he had planned for this eventuality, but Ludo's obsession over the wand was upsetting and really throwing a wrench into his plans now. Toffee had used that obsession expertly to drive Ludo towards willful possession, no, that part of the plan went nearly flawlessly. The way Ludo just trusted him as he spoke through the wand was amusing and far too easy. But Toffee had lost control in the cave; he underestimated Ludo's fervor for what Toffee now realized might be Ludo's life goal. He scolded himself silently, wondering why he hadn't learned from the many other times he had tried to enact revenge on the Butterfly line. Moon had been the last straw. Shafting the monsters at the Monster-Mewman Accord would be the last mistake those cursed magic-wielding Valkyries would ever make.

Yet at every turn, Star Butterfly dodged his every attempt to destroy or steal the wand. When he heard about Ludo and Marco in a run-down tavern, he saw his opportunity. He was once a reasonable monster, willing to give every chance the Mewmans thought they deserved to them to fix their relationship with monsters. He had seen four queens grow up, dominate, and retire. Each one was worse than the last. He had met Moon in a field when she was little, and guided her back to the edge of town, where the less savory types threw rotten food and cheap beer at him. She seemed genuinely sorry for what had happened. He had hope back then. Hope that things would be different for them, but they weren't. He asked for council with the Queen. When he was denied, he brought several monsters in peace to the castle, hoping to talk out their grievances. All of them were slaughtered. They hadn't even brought weapons to defend themselves. He saw future King River for the first time that day, dripping with blood. And smiling. Toffee knew that day that there was no peace for the monsters, at least no equivalent peace. If it was slaughter they sought, then he would lead his friends and himself to become the monsters the Mewmans feared.

Finding support for the revolt was simple enough. A few well-timed speeches here, an under-the-table bribe to the town crier there, some out-of-the-way outposts raided, nothing was terribly difficult. Toffee still didn't know if that were a testament to his strength as a leader, or a true indicator of how most monsters felt about the Butterfly line that ruled over them. Toffee however did know that going into the battle was a losing fight. He suspected his followers knew as much as well. But it wasn't about winning at that point. The chosen battlefield was a popular merchant crossroads. Toffee knew that some merchants traded with monsters on the side, and perhaps seeing a massacre firsthand would change some opinions within the empire. He didn't like playing with lives like toys; that was what had gotten all the monsters here in the first place. But he couldn't find any way out. His friends cried out night after night, hunger invading their stomachs while the upper class ignored their pleas because they were monsters. There was no recourse but violence. As their armies approached each other, Toffee realized the graveness of his mistake. Not only was the Mewman army better equipped than the rebel monsters, but they had Moon at their helm. That was something he wasn't prepared for. When he saw her at the forefront, she stepped towards his army willingly. He met her halfway, his simple leather armor feeling vastly inferior to her hand-crafted primaterium and white-steel assembly. He recalled the conversation clearly, reliving the memory that haunted him to this day.

* * *

"Is there no other way, Toffee?" Moon said coldly, her frown plastered on her face. She hated that it was Toffee. He was the one monster that had always confused her; why hadn't he tried to hurt her so many years ago in that field? She wanted to offer him a choice, a surrender, anything but the bloodbath that was about to occur.

"I have tried the other ways," Toffee responded solemnly, his heart aching for what was about to come. "I have peacefully asked for an audience with you, to even be allowed entry on the condition that I be shackled, like some slave." Toffee stared angrily into Moon's eyes. "My friends were slaughtered in front of me when we came as a group. We had no weapons, and barely any clothes. I gave you a chance for peaceful resolution, and you spat it at my feet."

Moon tensed up as she recalled the incidents Toffee spoke of. She knew that something was not right when her guards reported that monsters had tried attacking the town, but here were only 4 bodies.

"That was not by my orders," Queen Moon defended. "Were those words to get to me, I would have let you walk freely in and out of the throne room." She hated not having control even over her own guards.

"Moon, do you know why we're here?" Toffee gestured to the ragtag army of monsters behind him, all of varying sizes, colors and armament. "We are not here to air our grievances, Moon. You and I both know how this battle ends. 10 monster deaths to 1 Mewman death, and that's if we're well-organized. And you know what?" Toffee choked back the tears that begged to fall. "They're ok with that. Those monsters are so blinded by rage and hate for how they've been treated, they'll walk into this deathtrap just to prove a point. Just like me, Moon. If you wanted this to end any other way, we wouldn't be here." Toffee looked down on Moon as she took his words harder than he expected her to. For a brief moment, Toffee saw the lost girl in the woods, scared by his hand. But she reached out then. He had only wished she had extended the same hand to them now. Every Butterfly was doomed to be the same, it seemed.

Toffee turned on his heel as he left Moon in the center of the battlefield. Even now he trusted her, as she could easily incapacitate him with magic. He walked with his head low towards his army, trying to not let the hurt show on his face. As he reached the front line, he offered one last speech to the brave monsters who showed up today.

"They sit there, mocking us from afar," Toffee lied. Anything to give them a better chance at not dying. "Even now, on the 'honored' field of battle, they mock!" Toffee began shouting, adrenaline coursing through his veins. "Queen Moon is here to witness our suffering firsthand. There is no better time to show her that we are not small, we are not weak, and we are MONSTERS!" He thrust his sickle in the air as the monsters followed him, yelling. "WE FIGHT 'TIL THE LAST, BROTHERS AND SISTERS! THIS IS THE TURNING POINT, FOR ALL OF US!" Toffee lied though his maw, resigning his brethren to a bloody death. There was no saving them now, not with Toffee at the helm. He was no leader; just a scared lizard with a big voice.

Toffee turned around and summoned all the hate within him, as he walked towards the shadow cast by the enemy army, leading all his friends down with him. He picked up the pace as he saw the frontline approach with Queen Moon. He tightened his grip on his sickle as he began sprinting, feeling the pounding of footsteps behind him. He was a soldier once, and he felt the rush of battle return as he cracked a wicked smile. If there was any way to die, covered in Mewman blood was probably the best way.

The battle was indeed bloody. The monsters fared better than anyone had expected, using their unique anatomies to decimate a few waves of pikemen before the Royal Swordsmen began tearing through the untrained savages like paper. Toffee had become locked in a close-range duel with Moon at first, but the chaos of battle had caused them to get separated. He resolved to instead focus on cleaving through the Swordsmen who were eating through his army. Toffee felt the clangs of metal as he raged through the battlefield, feeding his long stowed-away desire for killing. At some point, Moon had found him again, who was expectedly calm as she blasted Toffee with magic. She had summoned some ugly pig-goat thing for her to ride on. It made her hard to strike, as the ugly thing was surprisingly agile. Toffee held off Moon's assault for a time, but it was like she wasn't really trying to kill him. He hated that, but she had magic, and he didn't. He could only back up and defend.

Soon he wasn't able to back up anymore, his back feeling the cold wind rush past him. He looked back for a second, realizing he was standing at the edge of a cliff. He turned back to Moon, admitting that he couldn't beat her. Not here. She stood above him, her frame outlined by the dark purple night sky around them. Had the battle lasted that long? Toffee thought, but he just remembered killing many before being cornered by Moon. Toffee seethed as he gripped his sickle with both hands.

"Finally going to end this, Moon? You know I won't die here. I can't. I'll lead another revolt on your precious daughter." Toffee growled, interspersed with maniacal fits of laughter. Moon stared intensely from atop her mount.

"Toffee, I should have you imprisoned and tried for your crimes," Queen Moon responded, sneering at the blood-crazed monster beneath her. "But I think instead I'll give you one last opportunity: stop this now, and I'll let you skulk off to where you came from. Or I will…" Queen Moon struggled to say the last word. She hated that it had to be Toffee.

"KILL ME?" Toffee yelled, startling Moon somewhat. Toffee dropped his arm with his sickle to the side and stood tall. "Moon, even if you could end my life, you wouldn't. You know that if you did kill me, the rest of the monsters would revolt again and again. I'd be a symbol; I'm undying, you're undaunted. The rest of your reign would be marred with the stain of being unable to suppress a monster uprising. You can't risk it." Toffee had no idea if any of this was true. But based on her reaction, there was some real value in his words.

Queen Moon snarled as her arm muscles tensed up. She didn't want to kill Toffee here, he was right about that much. But she closed her eyes for a moment and remembered as she saw her River battered and bruised, three bull-monsters standing over him, continuing to beat him. She had killed them all without a second thought. _Monsters are evil, no matter what._ She tried reassuring herself as she opened her eyes to a still defiant Toffee. She stared into his eyes, seeing the hate and malice that he now felt. She had to end this here.

Queen Moon reached inside of her and summoned all of her feelings for monsters, as well as River's feelings. She had come to love him deeply and shared in his hate for monsters. She felt the wand pulse with magical energy as she felt a rush of warm air pass over her. She stared into Toffee's eyes and felt her anger rise, peaking as she let loose a primal yell, pushing her magic through as she yelled. Toffee was caught off guard and tripped backwards. She felt the magic flow from her body in a tight purple line outward from her wand. As her yell peaked, her magic spell shot out faster than a lightning bolt, a shield blasting outwards from her wand as her hair was blown backwards. She watched as Toffee careened off the cliff, some other part of him separated. She let out a sigh as Toffee fell down the cliff. She hadn't hit him in the heart, where she should've. Even in her moment of anger, she hadn't been able to land the killing strike. Why did it have to be Toffee?

* * *

Toffee pulled himself out of the memory, before he got too upset. He learned from that battle that fighting a Butterfly fairly was no way to win. When they have magic, and you've got steel, there's no victory to be had. He also learned that hate and rage and passion caused him to act irrationally. Going forward, he would refocus himself to work in the shadows. He needed to wait until the next princess gained control of the wand. Moon wouldn't tell her daughter about him, she would be too embarrassed that she hadn't killed him. And how his plan had worked almost too well. Ludo was supposed to be a perfect host. Not much will of his own to exert, and with Ludo bending to Toffee's wishes via the wand, it almost was perfect. Except clearly the soul-possession magic was not as strong as he had thought. He had no idea when Ludo would be available to take control of again. He admittedly was only able to take control at first because of the location, a place seeped in magic in a dimension full of magic. This place had very little magic to speak of, and based on what Ludo saw, there really wasn't much of a way to escape the valley. And they couldn't fly unless Toffee took control for Ludo. His next move would have to be well-timed, as he wasn't quite ready to reveal himself to Ludo yet. He was confident he could manage, but he needed to find the right method. Getting back to Mewni would be no simple task without scissors. He knew the dimensional portal spell, but trying to do that without some large reserve of magic nearby would just result in him getting put into Ludo's subconscious again. He hated it here, watching Ludo just survive without any drive, where Toffee could at least have found a way to sail down the cliff face. Toffee waited, plotting the whole while. He'd find the best way soon. It was only a matter of time.


	8. Displays of Affection

Marco sat on Star's bed in the castle, nervously tapping his foot on the ground, sorting through papers with notes on them. He had made flashcards for Manfred's lessons yesterday, and was desperately trying to memorize the contents written on them.

"Ok, if it's a family line over 100 years old, bow first before offering your hand… if it's a family line under 100 years, half-bow while maintaining eye contact, ok, easy, um…" Marco talked to himself, a nervous wreck. Star let Marco do his thing, fully aware that he probably wouldn't even need to interact with the nobles at all. She idly wondered if this was how he studied for school tests. Except this time, it was all rules and no logic.

"Marco," Star called out gently from a far corner of the room, looking for her Royal Crest gown. It was hand made for her, and was a light blue and white full length ball gown, with two string of pink hearts sewed into the dress. It poofed out at the waist and at the shoulders. She had a new one made, as the one she wore in the family portrait was a little short now. "If I know _the_ Marco Diaz, you will be fine." She passively tried to soothe him, sorting through a mountain of clothes.

"Yeah, Star," Marco groaned as her sorted through more notes, "But what if I don't do it right? I've never failed a test before, and I feel like this is a test your parents gave me!" Marco continued sorting through his notes, reviewing the 13 physical greetings for nobles, quickly performing each action as he ran over it. Star gave up manually sorting through her clothes, and pulled out her wand, pointing it at the pile.

"Super Rainbow Sorting Storm!" Star yelled, letting the words flow out of her mouth. A rainbow-colored tornado spawned in her room, which slowly began sucking everything in the room towards it. Marco's notes were thrown into the storm, as well as Marco. Even Star lost her balance as she began twirling around and around her room. Marco yelled over the air at Star, but Star was across the way, having a good time. The tornado turned and turned, gathering all the various items in the room together: clothes, furniture, knick-knacks, and even people. Star and Marco eventually were close enough to hold hands, and they did, with Marco terrified and Star having a blast. Eventually everything was sorted and the tornado deposited the bed along with all the other furniture in the middle of the room. The bed was in the center, with all of the dressers and armoires surrounding it, creating a wooden furniture fort of some sort. The tornado then placed Marco and Star on the bed, with Marco awkwardly laid across Star's stomach sideways. She giggled at Marco, who looked like he was about to barf.

"You okay, Marco?" Star chuckled. She hadn't expected that spell to work so… smoothly. She took in the solace of the small fort that had been built around them. It was fun, and kind of nice to be somewhat trapped in here with her boyfriend.

Marco laid across Star's stomach as she sat up slightly and rubbed his back. He groaned, head still spinning from the chaotic storm, which had actually been quite effective at sorting things, much to Marco's surprise.

"Yeah, I'm, urp… fine." Marco said, defeatedly. Star's hand on his back was what he needed at that moment. He felt a sense of comfort spread over him as his girlfriend tried to stop him from hurling on her bed. He smiled as he relaxed, his stomach content with Star's soothing touch.

"Marco, don't worry about my parents so much," Star said softly. "In case you didn't know, the one you need to impress is my mom. And she already likes you, Marco. She likes you a lot more than she did Tom, anyways." Star recalled their Tom and Queen Moon's first meeting. There was a lot of fire. A lot.

"Does she? I can't really imagine she's very happy about anything I've done recently," Marco replied sadly. "I mean, I kicked the most powerful enemy in this dimension to some random other one, and we have no idea where he is. I've lied straight to her face so you wouldn't get in more trouble, and she knew I was lying. Plus…" Marco rolled over on his side to face Star, a sly grin on his face. "…I've stolen her precious, beautiful thunderstorm of a daughter right out from under her. Not to mention I've made out with you in front of her like she wasn't even there."

"Oh, Marco," Star sighed sweetly, bringing a hand up to her heart. "Are you just trying to butter me up for tonight?" Star smiled and narrowed her eyes at Marco. "I know Mom said that the ritual brings out a magical firework display, but if you wanted to see fireworks, I could just show you." Star brought out her wand and grinned at Marco beneath her.

"I didn't know I had to butter you up for tonight,"" Marco replied, trying to seem shocked. "Should I?" Marco sat up completely, grabbing Star's hand lightly. "But please don't do the fireworks," Marco said seriously. "It didn't work out so well last time. What with the cats, or whatever?"

"Oh," Star said, somewhat disappointed. "Did Janna tell you about that?" Marco nodded. "Okay, no fireworks, but the buttering up on the other hand…" Star sat back on her wand hand, smiling slyly at Marco. "…will also have to be a no." Marco was actually shocked this time, giving Star disappointed eyes. "I need to focus on tonight, and I don't need your tempting lips on my mind when some noble who's too smart for his own good starts asking me about how we're going to deal with the rise of crime on the eastern border." Star brought their joined hands up to Marco's cheek and rubbed lightly. "But we have to seal the ritual with a kiss, right? Who said it couldn't be one that everyone will remember?" Marco smiled back at Star, proud of her for doing what is right, while still wishing she would kiss him. _Wait, why don't I just kiss her?_ Marco thought suddenly, the thought coming like a revelation. Marco darted over to Star's face and pecked her on the cheek, causing her to blush a bit.

"Just that much then," Marco said, satisfied. "I should probably go get my suit. Where's the thing again?" Marco stood up on the bed, finding a low armoire that he could climb over.

"Oh, it's uh, in the west atrium. Just ask one of the guards, they can get you there. We'll be up in the main platform, Manfred will be waiting. See you there, Marco!" Marco waved as he hopped over the piece of furniture. Star flopped down on her bed, rubbing where Marco had kissed her, trying to focus on the task at hand. She only had about an hour left, and she didn't want to mess this up. Star hopped out of the fort with style as she found her Royal Crest gown, putting it on. She messed with her hairstyle, opting for a more royal look. She tapped her head and with a flash of light, he hair was done up in several expertly curled drills, which all fell in front of her. She tapped her head again, and this time there was her hair in two small buns at the back of her head, with two thin braids dropping in front of her chest. Star sighed, frustrated. She tapped her hair again and this time her hair was in many loose curls, with her bangs straightened and combed to the side. She tapped again and again and again before deciding to personally comb it all over to one side and straighten it. She flipped and flopped which side to have it sit before deciding to have it sit on the left, curling around her head and neck like a golden fox. She sighed into the mirror, going over what her parents had told her about the state of the kingdom the day before.

* * *

Marco had trouble finding the atrium, as the few guards he asked seemed confused. Apparently, there was more than one west atrium. It did help that he was in his royal suit, though, as most guards answered his questions without questioning who he was. It felt nice, he had to admit. Both the feeling of respect and the tailor-made suit. He didn't bother asking the tailor where they got his measurements from, and instead marveled at the craftsmanship as he walked. It had a beautiful light blue jacket and pants, much resembling his Song Day outfit actually. He was told to wear a ruffled purple undershirt though, to accentuate the contrast between him and the King. He didn't bother asking and did as the tailor said. He wasn't a patient man, and Marco had to be in the atrium in 30 minutes at that point. The sleeves ruffled out somewhat, and he had the usual gold shoulder tassels. His sneakers were swapped out for some simpler slip-on leather shoes that were surprisingly comfortable and his size.

He found a train of important looking people heading in one direction down a hallway and decided that he'd follow them. They walked down one of the many identical stone hallways towards some eventual destination, which Marco presumed was the event in question. The doors were soon upon them, and they were wide open as more and more people filtered into an auditorium looking room. The room sloped downwards ever-so-slightly, resembling an indoors amphitheater. There were no seats to speak of, but there were rows of stone that acted as steps, leading down to the main 'stage'. Calling it a stage was a bit overzealous, as it was just a flat wooden surface. Past that, 3 raised platforms resided behind the stage, dotted with people of various import. Marco spotted an opening in the crowd and began making his way towards the platform, where Star had said Manfred would be waiting. Eventually, he found his way through the people and walked on stage, unsure of how exactly to ascend. He reached the base of the central platform and began looking for some way to get up there besides scaling it with his suit on.

"Manfred, are you up there?" Marco yelled from the bottom, banging one of the wooden support beams for effect. Manfred peaked his head out from the top and motioned to the back of the platform. Manfred then lowered a ladder to Marco, where climbed up and noticed there were 2 rows of seats: 2 in front and 5 behind. The front two seats looked very… regal, with flowery designs and flourished in many different colors snaking down the sides of the cherry wood chairs. The seats were lower than he expected them to be, with a back that would be taller than him if he sat down. He scanned the side platforms and noticed some members from the Johannsen family on the platform to the right and many members of the Butterfly family on the left. No one was currently on this platform though.

"Hey Manfred, am I early?" Marco said to the somewhat short, aloof man. He had realized what Queen Moon had said about Manfred; he really was an excellent teacher.

"Indeed, you are, Sir Marco," Manfred spoke whilst facing forward, scanning the crowd. "This platform is specifically for the hosts of these assemblies, but Queen Moon has assured me that Princess Butterfly has given her blessing for your passage here. Remember what you learned yesterday, Marco. To the people of Mewni, you are a commoner from a foreign land. Treat yourself as such, and the wonderful citizens may come to accept you in time." Manfred did not break his disinterested tone or soul-crushing frown even once as he spoke to Marco, remembering that Manfred believed emotion was for those who could not afford to conceal it.

"Of course, Manfred," Marco quarter-bowed, casting his eyes down, a general motion for a thank-you. He wasn't happy with how Manfred had said it, but it was true. It didn't matter to the people if he had won Star's heart fair and square, they would see him with distrust until he proved himself otherwise capable.

"So where do I sit?" Marco awkwardly mumbled, looking at the seven seats confused. He figured one in the back, but he knew there was a procedure. There was always a rule, even when there weren't any on paper.

"Right, your short lesson yesterday did not include any assembly protocol," Manfred recalled, turning to face Marco. "You will either sit next to the princess or in the middle behind her. It is up to the discretion of Queen Moon, but I suspect she will force you to sit next to Star. The Queen will be observing whether or not you break under this pressure, Marco. For your sake, I hope you can muster enough will to power through the entire assembly." Manfred turned back to the crowd, passing over them with his eyes, watching for something, someone.

"So, it was a test!" Marco said, less surprised than he should be. He had become vaguely familiar with the social structure and proper social greetings yesterday but had not intended to answer questions about Mewni. He trusted Star to handle those, but there was the small chance that he could be asked. He wasn't sure if he had to answer it, or what. He was flying blind and alone right now.

However, he wasn't alone for long as he heard a group of footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw the royal family sauntering up towards him, dressed in their normal fancy clothes, all baby blue, pearl-white and Mewnian night-sky purple. He now realized that he matched and complimented Star's royal gown, which made sense. Star offered a warm smile as she approached, her parents right behind her.

"You ready?" Marco asked as Star strolled to the front of the platform beside Manfred. She waved to both families on either platform and smiled gently before responding to Marco.

"I think so," Star said, somewhat unsure. "I know I said I would answer all the questions, but if you get asked anything, you either answer it or shoot it my way, and I'll answer it." Star smiled gently as Marco nodded, hoping he would make it. Manfred rang a bell that was sitting on the forward railing, and the crowd began to quiet, every person finding a place to stand. Star, Marco and the King and Queen stood as Manfred began the starting ceremony.

"Good people of Mewni," Manfred began, putting effort into shouting with an air of dominance. "We have invited everyone here to air their grievances and discuss the matters pertaining to the kingdom at large and small. On this day, all opinions will be heard and considered, as long as there are any such thoughts to be shared. As the Butterfly family has gathered here with peace in their hearts and minds, so too shall all who come forward to speak." Manfred turned his head to the side as he motioned for Star and Marco to step forward. "On this evening, Princess Star Butterfly and Sir Marco Diaz will preside over this assembly. All will now bow before our gracious hosts." Manfred bowed, causing a domino effect in the crowd, as row after row of noble and commoner alike bowed before Marco and Star. While Marco was thrown, Star abandoned her normal smile and put on a Queen Moon neutral frown. She was used to this, Marco could tell.

"Raise your heads and raise your voices, citizens of Mewni," Star proclaimed, everyone raising their heads. "The Butterfly family extends an ear and a hand to all those who have concerns for the future of this kingdom. As the princess, I will answer all your worries. Let us begin. Please, sit." Star said finally, everyone who could find a seat sitting. Marco followed slowly, sitting in the left seat, next to Star. He hadn't ever seen her be… queenly before, so this was a change of pace. Marco now noticed a line on the right side of the stage forming, flanked by two guards. He could now see how this was going to work; someone comes forth, speaks with Star, leaves on the left. Wash, rinse, repeat until no one was left. Marco also now saw the already long line formed up on the side of the stage, internally groaning at how long this was going to take. As the first person passed through the guards, Marco checked his posture and told himself to relax his face. 'A tense king is a nervous people', as Manfred would say. The first person was a woman, dressed in simple farmer's clothes. She stepped to the center of the stage where she bowed deeply, nearly parallel with the wood beneath her.

"Your grace," the woman said softly. "Pleasure to finally speak to you in person." The woman stammered, clearly nervous. Star offered a warm smile, and the woman continued. "I've never done this before, I'm sorry…" The woman sighed and collected herself. Some man in the back of the audience groaned audibly, causing the woman to start up again. She cleared her throat and looked up and Star.

"So, recently in the northern lowlands, we've been dealing with a brigade of bandits. They've been stealing our crops for about a month now, but have recently moved on to attack the farmers in their fields, forcing them to give up their tools and any valuables. I know it's out of the way, but I would greatly appreciate it if you would lend some assistance to the villages of Haywall, Blackridge, and Red River Run. Our guards can't deal with them as they are." Star nodded as the woman spoke, her face steeped in thought. She turned to her father, and he nodded.

"Of course," Star said warmly, firmly. "We'll send a detachment of cavalry out that way at once. Would you like to ride with them? We can have one of our riders take you back to your village." The woman looked up, shocked. Star strained at the effort of talking like royalty. It was difficult but expected of her. She wouldn't break now.

"If it would be no trouble, milady," the woman said humbly, offering a deep bow. Marco appreciated the correct usage of a deep bow and milady, wondering how she knew that was the right thing to do. "Thank you so much, Princess Star." Star smiled as she nodded, the woman exiting the stage. Star sighed slightly, the pressure off for a moment. The next man to come up was clearly a noble as he sauntered up to almost right below the platform, bringing out a parchment and some spectacles.

"Pleasure to see you again, Princess Star," The man said aloofly as he quarter-bowed, indicating to Marco that he was from an important noble family. Or just lazy. If Star recognized him, she made no effort to make it known. "Vivicus Greystone, milady."

"Ah, Vivicus Greystone," Star recalled. She didn't really remember him, but it was rude to pretend like you didn't know your subjects. "How can the Butterfly family help you today?" Star said warmly, choosing her words carefully.

"Firstly, I must ask: is the person sitting next to you _the_ Marco Diaz? The kingdom is absolutely alive with rumors about this man." Vivicus visibly tingled as he eyed Marco, causing Marco to shift uncomfortably. Marco wasn't sure if he should answer for Star or not, so he sat silent.

"He is, Vivicus. Would you like to ask him anything?" Star replied, keeping eye contact with the noble. Marco's eyes snapped over to Star's face, his gaze intensifying. He didn't want to answer any questions, so why was Star doing this to him?

"That's quite alright, Princess," Vivicus said slyly, still eyeing Marco. "Though if I may be so bold, you certainly have an eye for the handsome ones." Marco's eyes met Vivicus' prying gaze, trying to not physically cringe. A 40-year-old bald man who was a stranger calling him handsome was too weird for him. Star chuckled with Vivicus, bringing an idle hand up to her mouth.

"Of course, he is," Star said matter-of-factly. "But if we might get to what you came here for, instead of flirting with a royal guest?" Star uttered, intertwining some royal venom between her words.

"Of course, your grace," Vivicus taking Star's hidden meaning to heart. Vivicus adjusted his glasses and began reading from the parchment. "First, I must ask you and the entire royal family: is Toffee alive and back on the hunt again? I was aware that after the previous monster revolt, Toffee had expired permanently."

Star's smile dropped, realizing that this is what the nobles would be asking about tonight. And her Song Day performance. She didn't let her internal anguish show on her face as she responded to the noble's intense question, trying to maintain her royal diction.

"He… is and is not. I can tell you that he is alive. I can also tell you that he will be slain this time. There will be no second chances for another revolt." Star replied confidently, hoping the noble would be satisfied with that much.

"And how exactly do you plan on responding to another monster revolt, should it occur?" Vivicus asked genuinely. Star thought carefully before she responded, paying attention to her wording.

"Steps have been made to subvert any remaining resistance in the monster's cells. As you know, all previously revolting monsters were given a choice to work or to die. That was perhaps… rash." Star could feel her Mother's stare on her back as she spoke, realizing her mother would rather be answering this question. "While the details of such plans cannot be revealed in this public setting, I assure you my father and his warmasters are approaching any such revolt with seriousness and subversion. We do not wish to risk unnecessary Mewman lives." Star finished with an ideal. She'd seen Mom do it plenty of times, and nobles loved it.

"Excellent, Princess." The noble seemed satisfied for now. "Our soldiers need not worry about another war, then. Secondly, is the royal Book of Spells gone, truly?" The noble seemed more concerned now, as everyone in the crowd responded similarly, ears and eyes perking up.

Star felt the shame of losing the book all over again now that the concerned noble stared at her deeply. These were the people she disappointed, the kingdom's citizens. Not some faceless mob of soldiers, farmers and counts, no, these were real people who now feared for their safety and the trust in their rulers.

Star sighed as she stood up and addressed the crowd at large. "People of Mewni, it is no hoax, the Butterfly Book of Spells is truly lost." A hushed silence fell over the crowd, a few gasps heard among them. Star looked at Marco for reassurance. He smiled, offering her the emotional comfort she sought. "However, it is not gone. Day and night, we are tirelessly working to retrieve that which has been misplaced. It is in Mewni, and every day we are closer to recovering it." Star exaggerated the truth somewhat. Her mother had told her they found a blank book of spells, but it was quickly determined to be a fake. She dropped to one knee, placing a closed fist over her heart.

"People of my kingdom," Star declared loudly, "I… made a mistake," Star admitted fault here, dropping the fancy words. It was dangerous for royalty to do, but she could only do things her way. "The Book of Spells was under my care, and I let it be stolen from me. I let my anger cloud my judgment. I let my jealousy overtake me." Star stood up and turned to Marco, grabbing his hand, much to his surprise. "But thanks to this amazing, adorable, sweet, sweet man…" Star grinned, feeling genuine bliss overtake her. It felt good to get this out in the air. "…I have become someone worthy of the wand in the first place. Without Marco, I wouldn't be here. I would be lying somewhere in the forest, dead or worse. We, together, are an unstoppable force. There is nothing in this dimension or the next that will stop us from achieving our goals." Star held his hand up as she faced the people, observing their shocked faces. She wasn't planning on doing this ritual so soon, but it felt like the right time.

Marco felt Star squeeze his hand, as he realized this was the time to do the ritual. He had memorized the phrase but was still a nervous wreck. He stood up after Queen Moon lightly kicked the back of his seat. He stood up suddenly, back a little too straight. Star giggled as Marco stared at her wide-eyed.

"Marco, you have to start it, I'll finish it," Star whispered as she took Marco's other hand.

"Right, uh, gimme a sec," Marco whispered back, going over the phrase one last time in his head. He sighed anxiously as he intertwined his fingers with hers and looked deeply into her eyes, the whole kingdom getting a taste of their relationship. Marco couldn't help but laugh a little as he took in Star's beautiful blue eyes, radiating some kind of magical spell, he was sure of it. He cleared his throat and began, slowly.

"I, Marco Diaz, do declare to the heavens above and all their eyes upon us that I love Star Butterfly, and my oath to protect you will waver only in death or dishonor." He could hear a slight 'aw' from the crowd, causing Star to smile even wider.

"And I, Star Butterfly, do receive your oath with all my heart. Let the moon and the stars be my witness as I pledge the same to you, Marco Diaz." Star finished the ritual chant, feeling the magic in the air surge around the two. Star pushed towards Marco a little, whispering to him. "Now this is the part where you kiss me, Marco." Marco felt Star tugging at his heartstrings. She was being very… alluring, affectionate, queenly. He almost didn't know how to deal with it. Almost.

He pulled their joined hands to their sides, closing his eyes and leaning in. She was a little taller than him with heels on, but Marco initiated the kiss anyways. As his lips met hers, he could feel an electricity tingle at their lips. He was shocked, but not deterred. After the initial burst of feeling, he found that he enjoyed it, as Star leaned her head to the side, taking in Marco hungrily. Marco resisted every urge to grab her by the waist and pull her onto the railing. It was an official affair, he shouldn't… He gripped Star's hands tighter as he fought his own urges. Star responded by pushing her chest against his. He enjoyed the warm feeling now on his chest, but as he kept his eyes closed, he could swear there were some lights going off around them. He just couldn't break from the kiss, however. It was causing his heart to race, his fingertips to tingle, the hair on the back of his neck to stand tall. Marco shuddered as he took in all the physical feelings, Star's lips still locked with his, her soft hands intertwined with his, her warm chest causing his to match her temperature, her hair brushing his face, the lights going on behind his closed eyes, the urge to pick her up becoming overwhelming… Marco needed to stop here, or else he was going to make a fool of himself in front of Star's parents and the kingdom.

Marco broke the kiss first, with Star leaning in after him, chasing his lips with hers. She surrendered after a brief pursuit, realizing she would look desperate if she kept after him. As they both opened their eyes, a giant ethereal red butterfly was behind them, flexing its wings. It was made of many tiny, smaller lights. It flew off into the crowd, soaring over the commoners and nobles, astounding them. As it flew over them, orbs of various colored light sprung forth from between Star and Marco, dancing around and after the butterfly. Ocean-blue, sunset-orange, Hibiscus-pink, royal-purple, all colors of orbs danced about the room. As they stared at the lights, Star leaned into Marco's shoulder, nuzzling into his shoulder tassels. As if on cue, a humanoid figure made entirely out of gold orbs hovered in the middle of the room, with the giant red butterfly encircling it. The figure held out a hand, and another humanoid figure made from entirely light blue orbs flew into the middle, taking the golden figure's hand. They began dancing, twirling this way and that, dipping down and skirting over top the crowd.

"Look, I think that's us!" Star said, excitedly. It really was like something out of a dream, the two of them made of light dancing in the air over a room full of people while seeing a giant red butterfly made of light fly around them.

"You know, I think you're right," Marco replied dreamily, smiling wide at the display. He was enjoying the sweet moment between the two of them, even as he swore he could feel a murderous gaze on the back of his head. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in slowly. Star smelled nice tonight, like lilac. As he continued watching, he saw the two figures dancing to and fro, bouncing up and down, spinning, even doing some salsa dancing. He could tell it was about to end though, as the lights began to fade. He turned Star's face towards his and leaned in for another kiss, closing his eyes. He quickly kissed her on the lips, vying not to get too deep unless he needed to repress his nearly unstoppable urges again. As they broke their second kiss of the day, the two figures kissed as well, the butterfly rushing in to surround them with its giant wings. The stray orbs of light rushed under the butterfly's wings as well, as the two figures sat down, holding hands. Once all the orbs were inside, the entire collection of light gently exploded, raining magical glints of light onto the people below. Marco and Star could see smiling faces, with a few people crying. A successful ritual then, it seemed.

"Does the ritual normally look that pretty?" Marco whispered to Star, who was still holding onto both of his hands.

"I dunno, but ours did. That's all that matters," Star replied, satisfied with how the ritual had gone. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. But then again, maybe she was a little biased. After a few moments of sanguine joy, Star released Marco's hands and sat back down.

"Have I allayed your fears for now Vivicus?" Star said, returning to her royal diction, putting on a small smile.

"Well after a beautiful show like that your grace, I don't think I can feel anything but happy," Vivicus responded somewhat genuinely, nearly forgetting why he came. "I've never seen a Proclamation Ritual like that in my whole life. I've no idea what Sir Marco is capable of, but if you believe in him that much, then I trust your judgment whole-heartedly, Princess Star." Vivicus bowed deeply as he took his leave from the stage. Star smiled at Marco, still basking in the afterglow of their ritual.

The rest of the assembly was filled with nobles asking about Toffee, the book, Lord and Lady Avarius, and the royal's plans for various smaller kingdom related incidents. The commoners asked about crop harvests, monster issues, etc. But they mostly asked about Marco and Star, eager to bring some delicious gossip back to their homes and taverns. Many of the ladies were smitten with Marco, the few questions he did answer making them swoon. Star felt more than a little pride as she happily flaunted Marco to the commoners, usually exaggerating whatever humble answers he gave. He was so adorable when he was embarrassed, and it was happening a lot tonight. Nearly 5 hours later, and the last of the people left the stage. After a brief closing ceremony, everyone began filtering out, leaving Star, Marco, Queen Moon and King River alone with Manfred on the platform.

"So, how did I do Mom?" Star asked, exhausted but still a little nervous.

"Not bad for your first time, I'll admit," Queen Moon responded, trying to keep Star humble. If she was honest with herself, it had gone significantly better than she expected. "You didn't really answer anything concretely, which may have been a bad move, but your Proclamation Ritual should at least buy us some more time to smooth things over with the bigger noble houses." Moon smiled finally, recalling the ritual.

"Speaking of which, that ritual was… stunning, Star," Queen Moon gushed. "That was certainly the most impressive I've ever seen. That red butterfly was breathtaking. You two must love each other very much." Queen Moon smiled wider as Marco and Star simultaneously blushed, looking away from her.

"What can I say?" Star said genuinely. "It's hard to beat _Sir_ Marco Diaz in a suit, Mom." Marco scratched his cheek as Star latched onto his arm, cuddling up to him.

"Hey, you look pretty good yourself, girlfriend," Marco muttered back, avoiding Queen Moon or Star's gaze.

"Okay, **children** , let's leave," King River grumbled through gritted teeth. "There's work to be done tomorrow, and I'll not spend another second thinking about it until I eat." Everyone agreed as they descended the platform, Star and Marco leading the pack towards the kitchen, running and skipping down the halls. Star had amazing balance, even in heels. Marco wanted to retrieve his clothes, but he had to admit he'd been starving for the past 2 hours, and he figured changing could wait.

They soon arrived at the family dining room, set and filled with food. They ate hungrily, scarfing down the Mewnian cuisine, which was appropriately corn-themed: corn casserole, corn on the cob, creamed corn, popcorn, as well as some rather tender meat from an animal Marco had never heard of. Most of the dinner was ate in silence, much of the time being spent relaxing. Brief exchanges were had between Star and her parents about the assembly, talking about future actions, but Marco decided to not get involved. It wasn't his business, and he didn't want to pry. King River didn't seem so angry at him, but just more annoyed in general. Marco and the King didn't exchange a single word over the entire dinner. Marco eventually figured it was probably time to head home, as he noticed the sun was hanging low in the sky, illuminating the room with a soft orange glow.

"Well thanks for dinner, guys," Marco said, standing up. "I should probably get home soon, though." Marco reached for scissors before realizing he was still wearing his purple and light blue suit. He had left his scissors with his hoodie, as he couldn't find a good place to put the scissors in his suit.

"Guess I should probably change first, though," Marco chuckled, turning to Star. "Where is the tailor again?"

"Oh, I had him send your clothes to my room," Star replied, shoveling one last spoonful of creamed corn into her face. "I'll take you there." Star stood up, leaving her plate at the table. "Night Mom, night Dad!" Queen Moon and King River nodded as Star left. She led Marco by the hand down the twisting grey stone hallways, eventually coming to a staircase. After one flight, they exited to the doors of Star's room. _Simple enough, 2 lefts, a right and one flight of stairs up. I should memorize that,_ Marco thought to himself.

Star opened the door to her room, looking exactly how she left it however long ago. As soon as Marco was inside of her room, she turned around and pinned Marco against the door, staring the young boy down. She made no effort to smile or move in for a kiss, she just simply stood in front of Marco, observing him. Marco was kind of expecting something like this, but the stare-down was uncomfortable for him.

"Hey Star, something, uh, on my face?" Marco joked awkwardly. He shrunk away as Star's gaze intensified, her skinny arms trapping him against the door with unimaginable strength.

"No, no, just your…" Star gulped, "…your face." Star wasn't exactly sure what she was doing. She had just meant to kiss Marco a little, now that they were alone. But, her body just sort of took over. She wasn't even sure what she was waiting for. Marco shifted uncomfortably, staring into Star's eyes.

"Well, I mean it is the same face its always been," Marco responded, unsure what exactly was going on. "Star, are you alright? You seem a little… tense." Marco noted her arms were out nearly straight, and her shoulders were immobile.

"I… think so? I dunno, Marco, I don't exactly know what's going on here," Star stammered, confused. "Maybe that assembly got to me, I guess? It was pretty long." Marco nodded, agreeing silently in his head.

"Well, maybe you should lay down? You're kinda freaking me out a bit." Marco grabbed one of Star's hands, trying to move past her to the side. At his touch, Star's arm exploded with a rush of good feeling. Star audibly gasped, knees nearly giving out beneath her. As much as she tried, she couldn't stop herself from grabbing Marco's hand tightly and shoving it against the wall, gently. She felt her face flush, trying to cope with the new bursts of pleasure springing forth from her hand, where Marco was touching her.

"Did you want to hold hands that badly, Star?" Marco laughed, relieved that that's all it was. "That tough Princess act must be hard on you." Marco moved to reach around Star's waist to bring her into a hug.

"Marco, I don't think that's a good ideeeeeeeeeeeeee-" Star cried out as Marco brought his arm around her waist, ever-so-gently. She was nearly paralyzed from the intensity of how she could feel Marco's arm, his lean muscle pressing through her gown, his fingers gently clutching the side of her mid-section, tickling her but also comforting her, each individual finger like the warmest blanket she'd ever had. She could feel his relaxed muscle sit on her lower back as she gasped again, containing a secondary sigh. She didn't have any idea what was going on, her body feeling Marco's touch too intensely for her to focus on any thoughts.

"Star?" Marco said, now a little concerned. "What isn't a good idea?" As Marco spoke, Star swore she could hear his voice vibrate inside of her ear, tickling her in just the right way. She shuddered as she refocused her gaze on Marco's eyes, concerned and adorable. She slowed her breathing as she tried to ignore the fact that despite the intensity, she didn't want to break away from Marco even a little bit.

"I dunno, Marco, it's like I can feel everything a hundred times more. You didn't do any magic after the assembly, did you?" Star knew the answer, but she wasn't exactly thinking straight, still focusing on controlling her breathing and heart rate.

"I don't know any magic, Star," Marco replied bluntly. "What do you mean you can feel everything a hundred times more? Like how?" Marco didn't really know if that was a good thing.

"Like, whew..." Star sighed as another wave of pleasure rolled over her. "Like, where our hands are touching, I feel like everywhere you touch is like the most tingliest, electrifying, warmest little cotton balls on my skin. It's like when we kissed in your kitchen, but like everywhere you touch, it's… unbelievable." Star marveled at this newfound sensation, quietly hoping it wasn't permanent.

"I dunno, maybe it isn't magic Star," Marco reasoned. "I mean since then, we haven't really you done… stuff like that at all. Maybe you just miss it, I guess? I mean is it different on Mewni?"

"I don't know Marco! I mean, I do miss it, but this is…" Star bit her lip, suppressing another gasp. "This is like, too intense. Besides, it's only been what, 2 days, tops? I'm not _that_ desperate, Marco."

"Fair enough, fair enough," Marco said, trying to calm her down a bit. "I dunno, maybe it was the ritual we did at the assembly? The Proclamation Ritual or whatever?" Marco offered suggestions, still trapped against the wall with Star inching ever closer to him.

"I doubt it, that's just a glorified light show, Marco." Star sighed, frustrated at the entire situation. What was happening to her…?

"Well, maybe it'll go away in the morning?" Marco said, noticing Star's heart-marks began glowing a light pink. She lowered her head somewhat, now looking up at Marco. She didn't really like what was happening, but maybe Marco was right.

"Yeah, I guess…" Star's heart dropped as the thought of needing to separate from Marco suddenly seemed like the worst thing that could happen to her. "I don't know where your clothes are, but you can look around for them. I'm gonna go, um, lay down." Marco nodded as he released her hand and waist. As Marco detached himself from her, she felt her skin tingle and prickle where they had touched. Like he was still there. She woozily stumbled over to the furniture fort, climbing over the low armoire. She plopped down in the large bed, feeling herself nearly beg for Marco to come back. She hated this feeling, and she didn't know why she had it. Marco hadn't done anything different, and she hadn't done any magic besides that ritual.

Star heard Marco's footsteps echo throughout her room, almost as if he were stomping around. She lay in the middle of the bed, rubbing her arm with her hands. Her skin wasn't sensitive, at least not to her. She touched her face, her hair, her knees, but nothing like Marco's touch. She traced the line that Marco's arm had made across her back, causing her to shiver a bit. Star didn't know what to think. Her brain told her to find Marco and have him hold her, but she didn't like the way she was feeling, it was too much, too weird, even for her.

Marco passively poked through Star's room, wishing he could help her out in some way. She looked frustrated and crazy, and he didn't like seeing her like that. He was a helper, especially when it came to Star. He wanted to talk about it with her, but even being near him seemed to be hard for her. He knew that this was supposed to be one of those moments where he just sort of knew what to do. But he didn't. He couldn't be near her, he couldn't hug her, he couldn't talk to her. He could ask Queen Moon, but it seemed like a… sensitive subject for Star, and probably not one Moon would like to hear. He briefly recalled Star's happy face as she slept in his room, cradling Esteban, wondering if she would like that. He didn't want to give up Esteban, but he considered his other options. He didn't have any other stuffed, animals, and it was too late to go buy one. He found his red hoodie, smelling nice and folded expertly. He didn't like having only 11 hoodies, but he already had one with holes in it…

"Hey, Star?" Marco called out from behind the furniture wall. "I'm gonna go now, but, uh, you can keep the hoodie tonight." Marco tossed the hoodie over the wall, hearing it hit the bed with a soft thud. Marco heard a brief scuffle across the fabric, as Star stayed silent. "Well uh, night Star." Marco said as he cut a portal open to his home.

* * *

Star heard the portal close as she snuggled with Marco's hoodie. Even just being aware that this was his hoodie was intense, but holding it was an exhilarating experience. She sniffed his hoodie, smelling everything that was Marco, consuming his scent, feeling her head go light, the back part of her brain almost sigh with content. It was still warm, as if Marco had been wearing it for the past hour. _This is not okay…_ Star thought ashamedly, still sniffing Marco's hoodie. She was having difficulty stopping herself. All she wanted to do was snuggle with the real Marco, but his parents wouldn't like that and her Dad might metaphorically explode if he saw any more displays of affection. She unzipped the zipper, imagining Marco inside of it, smiling with his dorky grin, his affectionate brown eyes staring into hers… As she closed her eyes, it was as if he was there, inches away from her. She opened her eyes again, not wanting him to come back like he had done before. She might implode if he was this close to her right now. Yet every time she closed her eyes, she just saw Marco, a golden aura surrounding him, like some sort of divine being. Star didn't know what to do. She wanted, no, _needed_ to snuggle with Marco's hoodie, but she didn't want to bring him back here… Star's eyes lit up with an idea as she sat up and figured out how to put on his hoodie. It was harder than she expected, but she figured out which way was up and where her arms were supposed to go. As she slid her slender arms into the arm-holes, she felt every hair on her arm stand up, as she swore she could feel Marco's hands all down the length of the hoodie. It was bizarre, but not unwelcome. _I'm already going this far, might as well just put the whole thing on._ Star slid the other arm through, feeling the similar tingling sensation. As she tossed the hoodie over her head, she swore she could feel Marco hug her from behind. She could feel his warm breath on her ear, his hands crisscrossed on her stomach, his legs behind hers… As she closed her eyes, she no longer saw Marco in front of her, which gave her a sense of peace. _Maybe now I can sleep_ , Star thought, taking in the comfort of pseudo-Marco's caress. This was definitely something magical, but she just didn't have the energy to care now, instead taking happiness in whatever strangeness was now upon her as she drifted off to sleep.


	9. Bound by Heart, Blood, and Wing

Author note: Hey guys, this one is a doozy (almost 13k words, yikes!). This one took a little longer to write, unfortunately, but all in all, I think in came together in a pretty good way. Let me know what you think!

* * *

Marco woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily in his otherwise silent room. He glanced around, scanning his dimly lit room for any threats. After discovering none, he sighed out, plopping his head back onto the pillow. It was early morning judging by the sun, and a quick glance at his phone revealed it to be 7:14 AM. Given that Marco had fallen asleep at around midnight, he resolved to try to rest his tired body more. He couldn't, however. Every time he closed his eyes, he felt a sense of… unease and restlessness absorb him. He felt his entire body ache for sleep, but his mind was stuck in a chain of calm, panicking, resolving his unease only to start back up again. After a futile 30 minutes, he gave up and headed for the shower. He quietly smiled as he relished in the fact that he could take his time today. School would normally start in 15 minutes, and Star would be out and about already, but neither was the case today. He smiled as he looked in the mirror, uncharacteristically proud of himself this morning. Maybe it was him giving up his hoodie or his handling of the assembly yesterday, but whatever it was, Marco was in a great mood today. He put on one of his favorite Spanish cassette tapes on the boombox and began humming along as he bounced around the bathroom. Marco sometimes missed the quietness of his life before Star, as there was almost never a silent moment with her around. Not that he missed it too badly. Besides, Star knew that sometimes Marco just needed a few moments of alone time, which he usually got at karate lessons. Marco finished brushing his teeth as he gargled some mouthwash, spitting it all out in the sink. He ran the tap for a second and gargled some water before turning on the shower, extra hot, still humming along to the music.

Whilst he sang, the same unease and restlessness that had woken him up weaved itself through his thoughts, spoiling his otherwise peaceful morning. He scrubbed his body slowly, taking his time to be thorough. He liked not needing to rush through his meticulous routine, even as the once background anxiety now mounted in the foreground of his mind, giving him great concern as to what he was worrying about. He couldn't place a finger on it, much as he tried to think. He'd left Star as best as he could, he was still dealing with breaking up with Jackie, sure, but that wasn't it… His mom didn't seem too upset about when he came home last night, karate lessons were tomorrow, he wasn't worried about Janna… Marco silently pondered through his list of possible worries, finding nothing that particularly struck him as odd, other than the worry itself. Marco resolved to just ignore it for now, and take in the heat of the shower, focusing his energy away from the mental and towards the physical. He loved the way the near-scalding water hit the top of his head, falling over his eyes and down his face, cascading off his cheeks. He turned and felt the stream hit his neck, causing him to sigh with his entire body in relaxation. He rolled his neck slowly, breathing steadily, maximizing the feeling. He ran his hands through his hair, prepping it for shampooing. He grabbed the bottle from the side, noting it was nearly empty. He squeezed a large dollop out, rubbing it in his hands before scrubbing deeply into his head. Ready for the final step, he closed his eyes and turned around to face the stream.

When he did, he was greeted with a vision of some… place. He wasn't exactly sure what, since everything looked like it was in some sort of thermal vision, with what he presumed people were outlined in red, everything else in blue. He could vaguely make out the outlines of buildings, but they were no help in figuring out where exactly the vision was taking place. He remarked at the curiosity of it, as his vision darted around, quickly, almost animalistic. He ran his fingers through his thick hair as he observed the vision with equal parts interest and marvel, watching as his sight glided over hundreds of figures, almost scanning each individual before darting over to the next one. His sense of unease amplified as he observed the vision, not exactly sure what he was looking at or why it bothered him so much. He couldn't hear or smell anything but he could see and feel. And he felt nervous, anxious like lightning was at the tip of his fingers. The longer he looked, the worse the feeling became. Marco resolved to finish up his shower sooner, as opposed to later. As soon as he opened his eyes, the majority of the nervousness and unease faded away. He didn't know what was happening exactly, but he figured it was something to do with Star. Normally he would be much more worried, but after seeing her handle herself so… elegantly last night, he gained a new level of respect for her. She didn't need him, but her trust in him made him trust her that much more. She would certainly be fine for at least a little while longer while he enjoyed the calmness of a duty-free Saturday morning.

And Marco did try to enjoy it, he really did. He filled his time with an episode of one of the TV shows he'd been meaning to catch up on, a gritty dramedy about 'The Little Mermaid', mixed with a bit of Homer's 'The Odyssey'. He made himself an omelet, poured a glass of OJ and covered himself with a comfortable blanket. He tried to push that feeling of unrest out of his head, devoted to enjoying some time with himself like he used to. But he couldn't even properly enjoy the episode, spending it wondering if Star was okay, and how much she would've liked that joke, and how this monster was like a scarier version of Lobster Claws… Marco sighed as the episode finished, his omelet half finished. _I used to do this all the time, why am I worrying about Star so much right now?_ Marco thought, somewhat upset that even when faced with Star's awesome dynamic personality and skills, he couldn't completely trust her and leave her to her own devices. He had vowed to never under-estimate her again, after the few times he did had not only hurt her but nearly hurt him in the process. But he couldn't really ignore this brain-worm which was getting significantly worse now. His anxiety had now grown to a level where he couldn't ignore it anymore. Marco sighed as he trudged back upstairs, finding his scissors and changing out of his house-clothes and put on a clean hoodie, black slacks, and white undershirt. He tried one last time to just leave Star alone, but he couldn't just ignore this feeling anymore. He cut a portal before remembering to tell his mom he was leaving. She was still asleep probably, so he rushed downstairs quickly and scrawled a note on a piece of paper, saying he'd be back before too long. He ran upstairs to his room and hopped through the portal.

As soon as Marco stepped through the portal, he could sense that something was wrong. He had landed at the castle gates, but strangely the gates were wide open, with no guards manning the walls or flanking the gate. Marco was observant and noticed the gate didn't seem like it had been forced open, and no signs of open conflict had occurred. He glanced at the village below, trying to detect anything out of the ordinary from so far away. His vision wasn't that good, so he instead focused his effort towards the castle, opting to find Star and ask her what was going on. As he freely passed through the gates, he noticed the courtyard was empty. Very empty. Not even a single soul stirred about, and even the flowers seem petrified. He took note of this, looking for any signs of what happened. Again, nothing indicated there was any fighting, with as many flowerbeds as he could see still very well upright and beautiful. As he remembered which path took him to the castle proper the quickest, he looked up at the main spire. As beautiful as it was imposing, he tried seeing if anything was going on from down here. It was quiet, with only the wind blowing in his ears. He figured the only way he would find out what was going on was if he went inside.

As he entered the castle's main floor, he listened for any sounds, anything at all. The occasional gust of wind rustled some portraits on the walls, but otherwise, it was silent. Marco vaguely remembered the path to the kitchen, and he vowed to go there first. If the castle had been evacuated, there would likely be some cooked food around. He found himself at a dead end a few times, but eventually, he made it to the dining room next to the kitchen. Here were the first signs of any sort of scuffle. A few tables were overturned, with shattered vases littering the floor, flowers and dirt splayed out like artwork. Marco tried to take in as much as he could. Despite the obvious tossing of furniture, there was no prepared food on the table, telling Marco that breakfast had not been served yet whenever it happened… whatever it was. He ventured into the actual kitchen where he tried to find more evidence of what exactly happened. The kitchen was left relatively unscathed, except for a few aprons and cooking bonnets scattered about. Most of the food was still somewhat organized, flour all in one location, vegetables in another, corn in another, cheese… gone? Marco was baffled as to why only the cheese was gone. There were a few wedges left, but clearly, most of the cheese had been robbed, leaving crumb trails all over.

 _Was the castle evacuated for a cheese thief? That doesn't make any sense…_ Marco thought to himself, trying to find a pattern to the crumbs if there was any. After a brief search, he went back into the dining room, seeing if there was anything he missed before he went to Star's room. As he looked over the room once again, he noticed something by the far balcony. A single wedge of some cheddar-looking cheese was on the balcony, covered in some sort of purple fluid. _Gross, what is this stuff?_ Marco thought as he touched the wedge. As he looked out over the balcony, he could see clearer into the village. He saw various catapults and trebuchets set up in the village square, all seemingly manned by soldiers. Marco couldn't tell what exactly they were aiming at, but they were constantly adjusting the massive engines of war. _This is confusing… Why would they evacuate the castle if they were being attacked? I should find Star soon, there must be an explanation for this._ Marco looked at the room once more, seeing if he could spot anything at all. Having seen the engines of war had made him more on edge now, but things weren't adding up. _Why evacuate entirely? Why leave it vulnerable?_ _This is the safest place in all of Mewni, that's the whole point._

Marco recalled the path he and Star had taken yesterday to her room, quickly finding her door. He was surprised to find it very difficult to open. He pulled and yanked and twisted, but the door was determined to seal itself shut. As the door pried open slightly, he caught the unmistakable scent of… strawberries? Something else too… sugar, something fried, and a conglomeration of cheeses. Marco was even more curious and perplexed as to what exactly was happening, even more so at the mention of the bizarre combination of smells coming from Star's room. After more effort on the door, Marco gave in that he couldn't get it open. He banged on the door, calling out to Star. He waited, and tried again. No response at all. Marco knew her room had a balcony, so maybe he could get into it from some other way? Marco continued to the end of the hallway, finding a narrow, tightly winding spiral staircase, electing to follow it up. Through the small slit windows in the walls, he saw one catapult launch a projectile towards the village, but upon impact, nothing happened. No explosion, no building collapse, not even anyone involved seemed particularly shocked. Well at least from way up here, but Marco had no idea. Marco eventually made it to the top, finding a door closed shut. This one, however, was not as stubborn, quickly giving in to Marco's kick.

The door opened to the outside, the wind whipping the door all the way open. As Marco peeked around, he was met with the rounded dome of one of the spires. However, he noticed a few crossbows loaded with some weird ammo. It was two stones wrapped with some rope. Marco assumed the stones were connected, which would make this basically a bola. Marco only found more questions the longer he looked, and couldn't see why there were crossbows with bolas on top of a spire in an abandoned castle. _What do they need to ensnare at the top of a castle? A bird?_ However, he saw an opportunity to now open the door to Star's room. He carefully crawled over to one of the loaded crossbows and dragged it back with him inside. As he closed the door he should swear over the loud wind he heard another catapult launch something, again with no explosion or satisfying boom afterward. Marco trotted down the stairs, loaded crossbow in hand. It was a little lighter than he expected, finding he could easily toss it between his hands.

Marco lined up in front of the door, pointing the crossbow right at the handle. He had no idea how the sights worked, but he took a guess at it. Marco pulled the trigger. The recoil hit him harder than he expected as the bola launched itself at the handle, not entangling it the way he wanted it to. _Oh well, guess I'll just do it myself._ Marco grabbed the two stones and wrapped them around the door handle, intertwining the ropes, leaving the two stones at the side. Satisfied that it was secure, Marco grabbed the stones and pulled as hard as he could, twisting slightly. He felt the door budge more than when he had just used his hands, but it was still tight. Marco sighed and focused his breathing, calming his frustrated mind and muscles. _In. Out. In. Out. In. Hold. Hold. Out._ He refocused on the door with determination, using all his muscles and yanking as hard as he could. The door eventually gave way with a very unnerving rip. The opening had sent Marco on his butt on the floor, huffing heavily at the expended effort. Marco dusted himself off and investigated the door. It was covered in an all-too-familiar purple resin made of hearts.

 _Oh no, not Mewberty again…_ Marco groaned externally as he observed the room. It was absolutely covered in purple hearts, with one corner of the room singed black. A table in that corner was holding a very crudely made plate of… food? Marco wasn't sure what to call it, but it appeared like Star had tried to make something resembling Marco's nachos. There were attempts at corn chips, but they looked more like very burnt pieces of toast. Melted cheese covered the black overtoasted toast, with strawberries haphazardly thrown across the top. Sugar dominated the entire landscape, more of it spilling off the plate than still on it. There had to be at least 20 pounds of sugar in that corner of the room… Marco shuddered at the loss of innocent cooking ingredients, wondering what else he would find. He noticed there was a strange structure made of hearts in the corner by the balcony. Upon getting closer, Marco realized it was probably him? Star wasn't an artist, but it was definitely supposed to be a Marco. He was sitting down, holding one of the laser puppies… or just an amorphous mass, he couldn't tell. His hoodie was recreated with hearts, much bigger on him than it usually is. The structure was roughly one and a half times bigger than he was. It was charming, but admittedly a little creepy, as Star hadn't really gotten any facial expression on his face. Marco moved outside, noticing the balcony was absolutely covered in purple hearts. Here they were so thick, Marco was getting stuck on them wherever he touched. He moved away from the balcony, seeing if he could find anything to help him find Star.

As he made his way back to the center of the room, he now noticed the furniture fort, or what had become of it. The wooden fort was covered in spires of hearts, looking very much like the castle he was now in. Finding an entrance was difficult, but the low armoire he had used previously had a big enough hole for him to look inside. It was dark inside, but he could see the cocoon where Mewberty Star had likely come out of. And in the middle of it was his hoodie, propped up by a purple heart structure. He resigned himself to the fact that he was probably going to never get his hoodie back again. As he examined the inside of the dome, he heard another launch of a catapult, wood hitting wood and another lack of sound from the resulting projectile impact. Marco now figured they were trying to capture Star, as she was probably running wild again, putting all the boys in cages or something. That would also explain the bolas on the rooftop. Marco stopped examining the weird hoodie shrine and started making his way towards the door to the village, where he'd likely find the Queen and King. Looking at the door, however, the resin had somehow managed to reseal itself. _Well great, now how am I gonna get out? I can't just use the same trick, plus I'd probably get stuck on those hearts…_ Marco sighed, opting instead to explore the balcony, to see if there was any other way down from there that wouldn't end in horrible death.

As he approached the balcony again, he could feel the sense of unease he'd been carrying this whole time mysteriously fade away. It didn't go unnoticed to Marco as he stared at the village from Star's balcony. Instead, he began to feel… excitement? Over what? As Marco began pondering his sudden change in emotion, he heard a faint flapping of wings. He tensed up, freezing in place as his eyes scanned for Star. _Where is she…_ From above, Marco saw a small glint in the sky, a tiny black dot now. He knew it couldn't be anyone but Star, as Mewni didn't have planes. He quickly retreated into Star's room, feeling his internal excitement rise. He had no idea what was going to happen to him, but he did not want to become Star's bug food. Thinking quickly, he stripped himself of his hoodie and threw it at the entryway to the balcony, hiding behind the Marco statue. He felt his internal excitement mount, as his own dread grew higher. He now had adrenaline pumping through his veins, almost thrilled for what was going to happen next.

As Marco hid, he heard the fluttering of wings approach ever closer as they slowed down. He heard Star's breathing as she passed through the threshold into her room. Marco noted that Star looked slightly different than she did from her first Mewberty at the school. She seemed to float above the ground with a fluid grace, her eyes a beautiful swirling mixture of bright white and deep purple, her irises transformed into hearts. Her skin was tinged a light purple, her blue-purple hair done up in the same two drills he'd seen the first time. Her wings were the same 6-piece ensemble he'd seen beforehand, but they now had a beautiful circle-blob pattern in purple across them. He also noted the were slightly large than he remembered. She wore a bright white one piece dress that ended just above the knees. She wore fuzzy socks but no shoes. She had six arms possibly probing the room around her, possibly nervously fidgeting, Marco couldn't tell. As she glided above the ground over to his hoodie, she kneeled and picked it up with one of her hands, soon snuggling it with the remaining 5 and her face. Marco saw his opportunity and jumped out from behind the statue, and sprinted towards Star, tackling her before she could react. Star flailed about, her wings fluttering angrily and her six arms swinging at Marco until he began speaking.

"Star stop hitting me!" Marco shouted. "It's me, Marco!" Star instantly stopped her assault, instead relaxing on the ground beneath him. He sat on her hips to avoid hurting her wings or her arms. For a second the two sat there, as some feeling of sanguine joy overtook Marco. He was not a fan of his emotions wildly shifting without warning.

"Mar…cooooooo…" Mewberty Star said, her voice a little deeper and smoother than normal Star's.

"Yeah, Star," Marco said, now realizing that if Star wanted to, she could easily through him off. "It's me, Marco. I didn't think Mewberty happened more than once, so, uh what's going on?" Marco didn't know why he was asking Mewberty Star; she hadn't really been the talking type last time, but Marco's adrenaline was still surging and he was just trying to get answers.

"Well," Mewberty Star started slowly, "after you made Star feel all hot and bothered with your wing fondling, she just could NOT stop herself from thinking about it every second since then. Seems like you really do have the magic touch, lover boy." Marco was stunned as Mewberty Star spoke, even more, astonished that she was coherent and not Star, but someone else.

"Wait, you can talk!?" Marco responded incredulously, clearly not expecting a lucid reply.

"Yeah, sweet thing," Mewberty Star replied confidently. "Now can we stop this whole, 'you're on top' thing? I much rather like it when you're beneath me, looking up at me with those giant brown pools for eyes you've got." Mewberty Star spoke with a slight accent like she was from some part of the countryside. Marco, still thrown, didn't really know how to respond, still trying to accept that Mewberty Star was speaking to him, clearly.

"Uh, no?" Marco stammered. "Aren't you gonna trap me and like, use me for food or something?" Marco had to admit it sounded a little ridiculous now that he said it out loud.

"Oh, Star is right, you're just adorable," Mewberty Star giggled. "I definitely wasn't asking." Mewberty Star easily bucked Marco off her hips, launching him into the air. As Marco flailed about, he felt 6 lithe arms rush under him, catching him before he hit the ground. Now that he looked at her up close, she smelled intoxicating, like nothing he'd ever smelled before. Even just being near her was making him sigh with pleasure. Her eyes pulsated with purple and white, almost pulling him into a trance. He felt 4 smooth arms beneath him, two arms rubbing over his arms and body.

"Now, let's get something straight," Mewberty said while smiling wide, passing Marco over with her heart-shaped eyes. "I am not going to use you for food. You are simply too gorgeous for that. I also know about your Proclamation Ritual, and I tried to let you know I was coming. That butterfly was me, babe." Marco nodded as he stared into Mewberty Star's eyes, trying to pay attention to what she… it was saying.

"Don't stare into my eyes too long," Star said while still staring at Marco. "I don't know exactly what will happen, but I guarantee you it will be very, _very_ good for me, and ethically questionable for you at best." Mewberty Star twirled around with Marco, letting her feelings build as she drank in everything about the boy beneath her. He had a great face for kissing, she had to agree with Star on that one. He was mostly lean, a fact she repeatedly confirmed with her own hands. _Star chose a good one_ , she thought happily. Marco averted his eyes forcefully, taking her advice.

"So, mind answering my question, uh, Star?" Marco said with some uncertainty. He didn't really know whether to call her Star since she was clearly someone different. He passively brushed away Star's hands before she started to tickle him.

"Well, I'm no Glossaryck…" Mewberty Star started, bringing one of her hands up to her lips, thinking. "…but if I understand right, I'm basically just a different version of Star. I've been there since she was born. I grew up with her, saw her fall in love a few times, and I get to see everything you two do." Mewberty Star grinned slyly at the now uncomfortable boy beneath her, opting to tease him for some fun.

"Ooh, like the Blood Moon Ball? I gotta say, I was on your side on that one Marco," Mewberty Star teased, lightly tussling the back of Marco's hair as he tried to brush her hand away. "Tom was a real jerk. Oh, and the Love Sentence concert? I was really pulling for my girl to just kiss you there, but you just had to drop the friend bomb. Tsk, tsk… But hey, you did jump into the vast unknown of Mewni after her, and that upside-down kick in the cave? Beautiful! And the kiss afterward? Even more beautiful." As Mewberty Star spoke, Marco covered his face with his hands, blushing and regretting his past actions even more. It was embarrassing enough in his own head, but recalling it all in vivid memory was near torture.

"So, you aren't Star? You're like a totally different personality?" Marco inquired, hoping to distract her from her ceaseless teasing.

"Correct, my smart little cinnamon roll," Mewberty Star cooed as she bopped him on the nose with one hand and rubbed the back of his head with the other. She just _loved_ touching him, it was like the time Star first realized she was in love, all over again.

"So, what happened the first time? You were like, feral back then," Marco said, wondering why this time she was coherent.

"Hey, you try spending 14 years locked inside someone else's mind with nothing to do but watch what she does. It was a good TV show, but Star was dealing with a lot of pent-up boy frustration, if you feel me," Mewberty Star spoke genuinely, feeling for herself what it was like to talk things out. Was everything this intoxicating with Marco?

"So, I helped my girl out," Mewberty Star said nonchalantly. "I didn't want to make her do anything she would regret, but I just let her feelings take over, let her take out all that stress, y'know? She works too hard sometimes." Marco laughed softly at that last statement, not taking Star for the hard-worker type.

"Alright then, so why are you back?" Marco naturally responded, still wondering why she was here a second time. He still drank in Mewberty Star's smell, now identifying it as a mixture of strawberries, sugar, roasted marshmallows and some other, deeper primal scent that he couldn't pick up on. He didn't like liking being near her so much, but he couldn't help himself.

"Dunno, really," Mewberty Star said, flying around Star's room slowly, closer to the ceiling now. "If I had to guess, it's probably some more pent-up frustration. I mean, you have just been ravaging this poor girl's emotions, Marco. She's drowning in happiness, then you go and feel her wings up, which by the way, is a really sensitive spot, and _yes_ , in that way Marco. Now she's all amped up and she doesn't just ravish you right there out of respect for you. Proud of her, but I really just wanted her to go for it, y'know?" Marco blushed again, avoiding Mewberty Star's gaze.

"Then you tell her no boyfriend-girlfriend stuff 'til the assembly is done, and you make this unbelievably stunning Proclamation Ritual… magic was in the air Marco. Then you get back to her room and she's all sensitive because of the ritual, and you don't even kiss her. Not even a little peck on the cheek. Then, just when she was gonna be fine, you toss your warm hoodie over the wall and she just about loses it. I swear the poor girl was gonna explode. I knew I was coming back today, Marco." Mewberty Star paused for a moment, just wanting to assault Marco with all the frustration Star felt over the last few days. He wouldn't survive the attempt. "Star _really_ needs some affection, babe. I like the whole 'less is more', 'affection denial' thing you got going on, but you keep on going like this, and she's gonna go crazy Marco. You may think you'd like that, but Star is… aggressive when she wants to be. Besides, if you keep going, I'm gonna have to see you more and get more drastic with my stress relieving techniques. You don't want to see those, trust me," she finished with a wink. Marco was now fully relaxed in Mewberty Star's arms, taking in what she was saying. To be honest, he was really enjoying the time he was spending with her.

"I'll be sure to uh, take care of her more, then," Marco awkwardly said, not sure how he felt about being given relationship advice by his girlfriend's magical alter ego he didn't know existed 15 minutes ago. "So, how do you, y'know, go back? Last time it just kinda happened." Mewberty Star shrugged.

"That eager to get rid of me, huh?" Mewberty Star replied sadly, magically shifting her eyes into frown faces. Marco grabbed her hand as he felt flustered.

"Oh no, this is lovely, you're… great, too, it's just…" Marco stammered, trying to patch things up with her. He wasn't sure if pissing off your girlfriend's alter ego was a good move.

"I'm just teasing you, ya sweetheart!" Mewberty Star cutely assures Marco, snuggling into his face with her face. "Well, last time Star was small-time crushing on that Oskar kid, and when I got him, I could feel her ready to come back. It was just sort of natural really, didn't think too hard," Mewberty Star finished, remembering the strange sensation of being in control and then not.

"Alright, then what does Star want this time? Not like I don't like having you around, but Star probably doesn't want to be backseat anymore," Marco asked, kind of sad that he couldn't spend more time with Mewberty Star. Mewberty Star closed her eyes, looking inside of Star's feelings, searching for the one true answer she could find. After finding it, she blushed a bright orange, averting Marco's curious gaze.

"Um, you sure you wanna hear this'n, cinnamon roll? This is a very frustrated girl you've got on your hands," Mewberty Star asked hesitantly. She didn't like doing these kinds of things right under Star's nose. Mostly because she loved Star, but also because she got unimaginable joy from just holding Marco, so to do so much herself, personally… It was daunting.

"Or you can just show me, uh, pancake?" Marco tested a pet name involving food. Mewberty Star giggled awkwardly, so maybe not pancake. "Speaking of, what should I call you? If I see you again?"

"Hm," Mewberty Star thought briefly. "I don't know. I've always just used Star, but if you've got something better?" Marco thought in his head for a bit, before opting for a clever name.

"How about Astra? It means 'star' in Greek, and plus it's really pretty, like you," Marco laid it on thick, feeling like it was okay to flirt with alternate-Star because she was Star… sort of. The similarity was uncanny. She blushed as she spun around the room, nearly vibrating with joy and excitement.

"Hey lover boy, you're Star's boyfriend! That means you can't just flirt with other girls freely," she scolded lightly. "But if Astra means Star, then I guess it doesn't really count huh?" Marco and Astra shared a laugh as she set Marco down on the ground. Astra liked the sound of her new name, but then again when Marco said anything to her, she practically swooned. His voice just soothed her to hear, and his laugh was like ear candy. She relished in everything about this boy. The best part of it all was that she got to feel everything that Star felt and be a little more honest with Marco.

"So, what is it? I'm, uh, ready, I guess," Marco said, hesitating slightly. Astra fluttered in front of Marco, checking him out even more. She resumed her bright orange blush, catching Marco's eyes, those luscious brown chocolate eyes… _Focus, girl. He's cute, but that's Star's boyfriend, so cool it._

"She uh, wants to go on a date," Astra said slyly. She internally groaned as she bold-facedly lied to Marco. _Dang it, girl! Just cause he's Marco doesn't mean you can just swipe Star's boyfriend like that!_

"Oh, really?" Marco replied, somewhat shocked. "That's it? Anywhere specific, or…?" Astra flexed her wings and tensed her jawline up as Marco looked up at her, looking extra adorable. He was so cute when he was worried.

"Uh, lemme see…" Astra said, thinking on her feet. _I should tell him what Star wants, but he is too fun to hang out with, and oh. So._ Cute _._ "Yeah, she wants to go to this lovely little grove and have a picnic! Uh, and, bring your nachos! And wear something nice! And pick something out for me to wear! And uh…" Astra belted out her list of feelings for a dream date with Marco, coming up with new things on the spot.

"Okay, Astra, I got it, let's just start at the beginning," Marco soothed, grabbing one of her hands. She quieted as she looked at their now joined hands. Marco saw her eyes pulse with a purple light as she locked eyes with his, her smile dropping into a neutral frown.

 _Oh, this is bad. Him holding hands, with me!? Come on girl, pull it together, don't make a fool of yourself…_ Astra cleared her throat, pushing down Star's repressed desires, even as Marco's hand sent shockwaves of electricity throughout her arms, wings, lips, feet…

"Hm," Astra started, her voice a higher pitch than it had been. "Yeah, so, if I'm getting it right, you pick out something nice for me, uh, Star to wear first. Then we go home and make those lovely nachos, pick up some burritos and sprinkle some sugar on them. Take all that to this lovely grove on the outskirts of the kingdom, in the southern High-Mountains. And then we share a single, solitary kiss and that should about do it." Astra felt guilty about describing _her_ perfect date, not Star's. But she couldn't just jump into what Star was feeling without some proper wining and dining. Yeah, that was it. She wasn't just using that as an excuse to spend more time with Marco.

"I didn't really take Star to be that romantic," Marco uttered genuinely. "I was expecting a little more monster-fighting and partying, with maybe a journey to a planet with only beaches and sunshine." Astra groaned as Marco nailed it on the head, describing what Star wanted almost exactly. There was more kissing in Star's version, but Marco probably knew that too.

"Well, you never know what to expect with Star, huh babe?" Astra chuckled awkwardly, trying to not let her obvious ruse show. "So, shall we get going? I don't exactly know how much of this Star will remember, but it isn't fun being backseat in someone else's mind, I know that much." Marco nodded, smiling wide at the Butterfly-girl.

"Alright, well let us look through some of Star's clothes, huh?" Marco said, releasing Astra's hand.

"Oh, I think she would really like it if you uh… bought something for her," Astra muttered quietly. "Her wardrobe has been feeling a bit stale lately, yeah." Astra tried to reconcile her feelings with Star's, but she simply couldn't get enough of Marco. She wasn't going to stay here forever, but she could enjoy the time she had, right? Marco sighed as he shrugged.

"Well, the world and a half for Star, right?" Marco said nonchalantly. He had meant it as a joke, but Astra still blushed anyways. "Okay, well there's the mall back in Echo Creek. If we're gonna go, you may want to… disguise yourself. And maybe not fly." Astra nodded, alive with the excitement of a date with Star's Marco. She set herself on the ground and closed her eyes, focusing on changing how she looked. After a brief burst of effort, Astra made herself look as much like Star as she could. She now resembled Star in almost every way… except for the purple heart-shaped irises and wings.

"Wow," Marco said, amazed at the casual transformation that had just occurred. "I'm impressed. Guess the wings are there to stay, though." Astra twisted her body to see the wings were still there, slightly embarrassed she couldn't hide them. "Don't worry about it. If anyone says anything, just tell them you're here for the convention. They'll know what it means."

"If you say so, sweetheart," Astra replied, hiding her giddy excitement. "Lemme go put on some… what do you call those, shoes?" Marco nodded, pointing out Star's favorite rhino rainboots over near her closet, helping Astra put them on. Soon enough she was ready, and Marco cut a portal to Earth.

* * *

As they exited near the mall, Astra's face lit up, clearly excited to see Earth for herself. She could feel the warm air gently flow over her, causing her to unconsciously flex her wings. She marveled at the stone structures, clad in various words and colors. She bounded around, tempted to fly, but stopped herself before remembering Marco's advice.

"Alright, I think the girl's clothes are this way…" Marco trailed off, realizing he'd never bought girl clothes before. It didn't strike him as odd, but just a fun fact about himself. Astra bounced happily around Marco, pointing out all the things that struck her as fanciful. Nearly every food place Marco had to almost drag Astra away from every food item. She was clearly hungry, but Marco made her wait for his nachos and burritos. He kept telling her it was sweeter that way.

The two of them found a clothing store that sold dresses, which Marco thought would be appropriate, considering her big wings couldn't just be folded away. Marco wandered in, suddenly at a loss. He had no idea what exactly to look for in a dress. Would poofy be better? Frilly? Straight? Tight? Marco's head swam as he realized he had no idea what he was doing.

"So, Star wants me to pick it out, right?" Marco said uneasily, hoping Astra would just pick something. Astra nodded, much to Marco's chagrin. "Okay, then, let's just… go over here, then…" Marco wandered aimlessly towards the dress section of the store. He looked at the multitudes of dresses, boggled by how there could be so many options. He didn't know what would look cute, or if it even mattered. Astra felt all the fine threads in front of her, wondering how they could feel so smooth. She giggled as she observed Marco from behind a coat rack, watching him struggle internally with what to pick. Astra loved that about Marco; he always tried his hardest to do things perfectly, when often there was no such thing as perfect. Astra eventually found a rather curious looking piece of fabric, a very smooth all black piece of linen. The way it was folded, it looked like it had a built-in collar. It was absolutely divine to touch, like the softest kitten that had ever existed.

"What about this one, Marco?" Star held up the piece of cloth in front of her as Marco turned.

"Oh, a turtleneck?" Marco responded, marveling at the blackness of the cloth. "Yeah, but that's gonna really cramp your wings, right? It doesn't have an open back." Astra pouted, but he was right. She didn't want to have to conceal her wings under such a tight piece of fabric. Marco resumed his browsing, wandering over to the 'International Fashion' section of the store. Maybe something from across the world would work.

And boy did he find something. Just looking at it was enough to get him to blush. There was no way he could put Star in this, that wouldn't be cool of him. But oh, boy did he imagine… It was like a turtleneck, but the back was cut away almost entirely, cutting very low into the hips on the back, and the attached 'skirt' portion barely going down a third of the thighs before stopping. It again was black, and the neck was very small, as he checked the size. _Small, that's what Star is right?_ Marco chuckled lightly to himself, as he knew this wasn't going to happen. As he opened his eyes, Astra was beside him, checking out what he was holding.

"Find something good, Marco?" Astra said, causing Marco to jump to the side. Astra giggled, smiling at the surprised Marco.

"Oh, this? Nah, Star wouldn't like it, too risqué," Marco replied, chuckling awkwardly. He wouldn't forgive himself if he tricked his girlfriend into wearing this. But it might be worth it…

"Well, let me see," Astra said, snatching it from Marco's hands. Astra blushed lightly, marveling at how much fabric _wasn't_ there. Astra saw what Marco was talking about. It wasn't something Star would normally wear. Then again, if Star had her way, Marco would always wear the same royal suit and never change out of it. Maybe Astra could teach her a thing or two about being _really_ seductive…

"Wow, I think it might be perfect for me! Star, I mean," Astra confidently said, smirking up at the blushing Marco. She could tell he secretly wanted Star to wear this, based on the growing blush in his cheeks. _Oh, corn… this boy has no idea what he does to Star, does he?_ Astra physically restrained her two hands in front of her, knowing that one misstep and she would just assault him here, in this nice store.

"I mean, it does work, it's got a nice open back, it's comfy, it'll probably look cute too…" Marco rambled, trying to convince himself that he wasn't doing it just because he really wanted to see Star wear it. He wasn't sure anymore if Astra was going to go along with it. Astra giggled, fluttering her wings slightly at the flustered teenage boy before her.

"Well then let's buy it, yeah?" Astra replied, circling Marco hungrily. "This date can't start until I get some nice clothes on. My dress is alright, but nothing quite like this." Marco gulped, weighing the options of whether he should go through with it. Star won't remember probably, so maybe it'd be okay…

"Alright," Marco muttered. "Don't you want to at least see if it fits? Be a big waste if we get all the way there and it doesn't fit, right?" Marco nonchalantly mentioned, trying to not seem desperate for a taste of Astra in that daring… dress? He wasn't sure what to call it. Astra picked up on Marco's desires quite easily, as the nervous boy darted his eyes at everywhere but her. He was simple to read when it came to this stuff.

"Sure, cutie," Astra sweetly said. "You got a room I can change in? Don't want to do anything Star would regret, y'know." Marco blushed as he pointed towards the changing rooms. Astra bounded happily over to them, with Marco following behind at a distance. Marco had to admit, watching her bound away from him made him want to chase her. His heart was beating faster than he had expected, noticing he was anticipating her reveal much more than he thought he would.

Astra slipped on the dress and noticed it was indeed very… risqué. It hugged her lithe frame tightly while leaving room for her wings to flutter. As she examined herself from the side, she popped a slight blush. She was no stranger to Star's desires for Marco, but Star had an absolutely _gorgeous_ body that she took for granted sometimes. Her legs poked out from the bottom of the dress, her white skin creating a beautiful contrast with the black cotton. She ran her two arms up the side of Star's body, where the dress stopped and Star's skin began. Star may not like this kind of clothing, but she certainly looked stunning in it. She enjoyed the feeling of the cotton around her neck, relishing in the softness of the fabric again. She sighed, making sure it wasn't too tight or too loose in all the important places. She could stand the dress to be a bit longer, but she wasn't complaining because Marco was gonna lose his mind when he saw this… Astra giggled, slipping out of the dress and back into her white one.

Marco sat on a nearby bench, waiting impatiently for Astra to come out, his heart still beating somewhat fast and very heavy. He saw her trademark wings out of the corner of his eye and noticed she had her white dress on. He couldn't hide the look of disappointment on his face as Astra offered a small smile in return striding right up to the sitting Marco. She got into his personal space, leading with the dress which was still a little warm. She put her arm around his shoulders, leaning in close.

"Didn't think it was gonna be that easy to get me into that dress, did ya?" Astra teased, ruffling Marco's hair, sniffing it slightly. Teasing Marco was definitely her new favorite pastime. Watching Marco practically melt with shame beneath her was like the sweetest candy. "It fits, so buy it for me, hm?" She played Marco like a fiddle, watching his eyes practically light up as she gave the go ahead to buy it. He stood up, trying not to seem too eager as he practically skipped over to the counter. He shouldn't be this happy, but this was his girlfriend he was talking about. The cashier rang up Marco, glancing curiously at the monitor.

"That's weird, it's saying this dress is $650, but that can't be right," the cashier mumbled, confused. Marco, still in a daze pulled out $650 from his wallet, and shoved it on the counter. The cashier looked at Marco incredulously, wondering why he would pay something so obviously wrong. However, upon noticing the devilishly smiling beautiful girl behind him with gently fluttering butterfly wings, the cashier decided she didn't want to deal with this today. This guy clearly was out of it, but she didn't really want to burst whatever bubble they were in. She took the money and detached the anti-theft device, handing the dress to the stupidly grinning boy in front of her.

"You're such a sweetheart, Marco!" Astra said to Marco as they exited the store. "Now we can really start this date!" Marco was still grinning mostly to himself as Astra pulled him along towards home. He couldn't get the image of Star in this dress out of his mind. Astra noticed her beautiful dork in front of her with his eyes glazed over and she laughed internally. _Gah, he is always so adorable._

The two found themselves at Marco's home, easily whipping up a batch of Marco's nachos and hitting the burrito shop quickly. Star flew Marco around town, despite his protests. His slightly terrified, awe-inspired expression was something she wished Star could see. After neatly packing the Mexican cuisine in a cooler, Marco took his scissors out, ready to leave.

"Ah, don't you have one last thing to do Marco?" Astra chided, eager to experience Marco walking down the stairs in a suit for herself.

"Huh?" Marco questioned, going over her list of requirements in his head. "Oh, right. I have to dress up." Marco sighed, putting down the scissors and his share of the picnic basket. Astra giggled as Marco trudged upstairs.

He decided that a full suit would be a little much, and he didn't want to get his Royal made suit dirty with grass, so he instead opted for a pair of black sneakers, black slacks, and a white button-up shirt. He left the top button open and rolled up the sleeves slightly. He wasn't really sure why he had to get dressed up for a picnic, but he didn't really mind doing it for Star. He checked himself out from the side and decided that he would button the top button, finding a red tie that would work well. He thought so anyways.

Astra danced lightly on the balls of her feet with anticipation, staring at the top of the stairs eagerly. Her hard-fought patience was soon rewarded, granting her a stunning view of _the_ Marco Diaz. He was messing with his cuffs, rolling them into his elbows when he caught her gaze and gave a genuine smile. His hair flopped perfectly over his face, his eyes alive with happiness. His cheeks blushed slightly as he met Astra's gaze. Astra's heart nearly stopped, her head drooping to one side as her mouth opened. _Star is the lucky one, whoo!_ Astra couldn't contain herself any longer and flew at top speed to Marco, wrapping him up in a fierce hug, fluttering a few feet off the ground.

"You look stellar, boyfriend," Astra said, lost in the moment. She clasped her hand over her mouth after realizing what she said. He wasn't _her_ boyfriend, sure, but she could pretend for a little, right?

"Well, now I just feel overdressed," Marco responded, seemingly unaffected by the boyfriend comment. Astra nodded, waving a hand at Marco.

"Okay, okay Marco," Astra said, hiding her embarrassment well. "I'll go willingly put on that skimpy outfit you're forcing me to wear…" She finished with a sad smile, giving puppy dog eyes to Marco.

"You picked it out, princess," Marco bluntly said. "But if you're scared… I can totally see how you would want to chicken out, so no worries." Marco gave as good as he got, accustomed to Astra's subversive teasing. She responded with an impressed and surprised glare, astounded at how quickly Marco was learning how to tease back.

"Oh, there's nothing to be afraid of, sweetheart," Astra condescendingly sighed. "It's just the cutest boy in all of two dimensions getting a little cocky cause he thinks he's got this beautiful princess wrapped around his finger. I know how to deal with hotshots like you." Astra set Marco down on the ground, hiding a smile. "All you gotta do is be honest with 'em."

"Huh?" Marco uttered, confused.

"Babe, you have the most beautiful eyes," Astra sighed contently. "You've got a heart of rubies too. Every time we touch, you make me the happiest girl on Mewni. Whenever you smile, my heart beats quickly, whenever you laugh, my heart beats even faster, but whenever you tell me how much you care about me, my heart stops." Astra looked at Marco with loving eyes, letting the words flow out of her mouth. This was mostly Star, but Astra mixed a few of her own feelings in there as well. Marco was taken aback at the burst of feeling, unsure what to make of it. He stared into Star's eyes, detecting not even a shred of dishonesty or embellishment.

"Uh, thanks, you're uh, cute," Marco stammered. He admitted to himself that she had played him perfectly.

"You gotta work on your compliments, Marco," Astra groaned. "Just wait a minute while I go change, alright?" Astra left the star-struck boy on the stairs, fluttering up to Star's old room with the outfit in hand. She quickly swapped dresses, checking herself out one last time. She magicked up the looser parts to fit snugly against her body, a newfound embarrassment rolling over her as she realized she would need to be near Marco while wearing such a provocative dress. As much as it excited her, she had to admit she may have been… ambitious.

Those feelings were washed away as she fluttered down the stairs. She watched Marco's jaw drop as a fierce blush overtook his face as she silently thanked herself. This moment was worth it, no matter how embarrassed she would be during the date. She fluttered her wings as she floated up next to Marco side, watching him struggle with where to put his eyes. She smiled with a renewed vigor, satisfied her gamble had paid off.

"Shall we?" Astra happily said, offering an arm to Marco. Marco absentmindedly took Astra's outstretched arm, pulling out the scissors and cutting a portal to Mewni.

Marco and Astra arrived in an outstretched field somewhere, much to Marco's surprise. The grass here was golden, and approximately waist high He looked around confused as Astra surveyed the horizon.

"I was pretty sure I wanted to go to the castle…" Marco grumbled, scowling at his scissors.

"Oh, that wouldn't have been pretty, babe," Astra responded, still scanning the horizon for any indication as to where they were. She found the High Mountains after looking past the distant trees. "Star's parents were in a real hustle to get me under control, but I was looking around for you. Didn't really have time to be under lockdown, since Star isn't really patient. Plus, I wanted to meet you in person."

"Yeah, that wouldn't really be as fun," Marco remarked. "Spending the afternoon in a prison cell trapped doesn't really sound romantic." Astra laughed at Marco's joke as she felt the find brush over her bare back and wings. She shivered, wrapping herself into an embrace, trying to warm herself up. It was colder here, but where they were going they wouldn't need warm clothes.

"Alright, shall we go to the picnic spot? I think you're gonna love it," Astra said giddily, ready to taste some of Marco's nachos for herself.

"Sure, where is it? Here?" Marco asked, unsure if the tall grass would be a good spot to eat. He didn't know if Mewni had ticks, but he didn't want to find out.

"Nope!" Astra replied, bursting with anticipation. "It's in those mountains!" Astra pointed at the distant mountains on the horizon. Marco groaned as he saw how far they were away.

"We have to walk there? I should've brought hiking boots…" Marco whined, now feeling the picnic basket's weight in its entirety. Astra cuddled up next to him, placing her share of the picnic good in his hands.

"I didn't say that, did I? These wings aren't just to impress you, Marco, they do work," Astra flexed her wings strongly, watching the realization come to Marco. He rolled his eyes in defeat, as he would rather spend a few minutes terrified than an hour walking.

"Ok, so how is this gonna work?" Marco said, now carrying the full load of burritos, nachos, napkins, drinks and plates.

"Like this!" Astra shouted as she shifted to right behind Marco, wrapping him in a fierce hug. She bent down slightly, making sure Marco had a good grip on the food before pre-fluttering her wings. She retightened her grip on Marco before launching, the new weight almost causing her to crash right back into the ground. After a few seconds of unsteadiness, she adjusted, soaring over the Mewnian countryside, taking in the fresher air up here. She could see villages beneath her, complete with fires, brewing and whatever other business southerners find themselves in.

Marco, on the other hand, was terrified, hundreds of feet of nothing but open sky beneath him. He closed his eyes briefly before deciding that that was worse. He gripped the basket tightly out of fear as he felt the wind rushing through his previously well-combed hair. He shook with adrenaline, realizing that the normal motion sickness he had in cars wasn't present here. He did have to admit that it was beautiful up here. The villages beneath him, the slowly setting sun off to his left, the green fields giving way to farmlands of golden corn and even the crisscrossing of blue rivers across the downward sloping farmland. He felt Star's arms grip him tightly, bringing him a sense of ease as he tried not to panic. It wasn't working, but he believed Astra would catch him if he fell.

Astra was soon upon the mountains as she wound her way through the passes, searching for the predetermined location. It looked much different than how she remembered it, but the last time she was here was when Star was a small girl. She had loved the white snow back then, even as she shivered in her tiny overcoat. Astra smiled at the fond memory for Star, seeing it as fitting that she would be back here with Marco. Eventually, she found the small hot spring, only about 40 feet across, with an island in the middle. In that island was a tree, clearly still a young sapling. There was enough room for the two of them though. Astra floated down right onto the island, gently setting the shaky-legged Marco down, helping him to sit. She followed soon after, relaxing as she sat down, exhausted after flying in such cold winds. She took in the scenery for a bit, giving Marco a chance to rest.

"So, do you like it, Marco?" Astra asked, a little apprehensive that he wouldn't like it. Now that he had calmed down a bit, Marco glanced around near him. They were in a hot spring, sitting under a baby tree, the steam rising all around them as snow fell not but a hundred feet away. It was hot, sure, but it was a welcome heat, much more comfortable than the coldness above. The water was very still, almost as if it were painted on the ground. The sun hung low in the distance, gleaming a dull yellow behind the clouds. He saw it through the breaks in the mountains. He sighed with content, again surprised at Star's romantic gesture.

"There isn't a single thing I don't like about being here right now," Marco said frankly. "The scenery is… stunning. I'm about to eat nachos with my girlfriend on a hot-spring island in the mountains of her home dimension, and I get to see her, dressed so lovely just for me. I'm wearing dress-up clothes and all I can think about is how I'm gonna scarf down a burrito with the most beautiful princess I know in a small little paradise in the middle of a raging winter storm. There's nothing I'd change about this moment." Marco finished, gazing into Astra's loving eyes as she internally swooned. He spoke from the heart, and it had clearly influenced Astra as she held her face with her hands and fluttered her wings strongly. Marco smiled at the adorable creature in front of him as she blushed and fidgeted.

"Marco, you know you're supposed to be romantic at the end of the picnic, right?" Astra dreamily said, resisting the urge to shove him on the ground and… She stopped herself before she kept thinking. "Now I'm all giddy like a little girl. How can I eat my nachos in peace, hm?"

"I wouldn't intentionally ruin your nachos for you, but if you aren't going to eat, I can take your share…" Marco slyly uttered, earning him a strict leer from Astra.

"If you think you're getting even one more nacho than half, you are a very mistaken little cookie," Astra said, half-joking and half-serious. "I didn't whisk you away to this lovely mountain grotto just to have you steal my long-awaited nachos, bub. Hands off!" Astra smiled now as Marco chuckled. They both began unpacking the food, eager to start eating.

* * *

"Wow, those were… deadly," Astra groaned through a full stomach. "How does Star not make you make them literally all the time?" Marco laid down completely, staring up into the sky.

"Because I like to keep it special," Marco genuinely spoke. "Too much of a good thing is always bad. Nachos are no different." Marco unleashed an unplanned moment of wisdom, perhaps enlightened somewhat by the burrito and nacho combo.

"If you say so, sweetheart," Astra unconvincingly said, taking in the prone Marco's form. He was still the most precious person in all Mewni and Earth to Star and her. She didn't really know how to express that the way he did. He gave so much love to her, so all she could do was try and give as much back. She smiled as the young man before he met her gaze and smiled as wide as a completely full of food could.

"So, there's one last thing we gotta do to get Star back," Marco casually said, trying to not seem too interested. Astra covered her mouth with a hand, giggling slightly.

"Very subtle, Marco," Astra responded, blushing slightly. "Yeah, one last thing. All we gotta do is kiss." Marco sat on his knees now, inching closer to Star. "You've gotta kiss me, though. It won't work if I start first." Marco nodded as he approached. Astra felt her heart begin to beat quicker as she instinctively laid back on both hands. Marco was now crawling on his knees toward her, his tie just barely dragging the ground. "And it's gotta be very romantic, and have a lot of passion and be super… hot…" Astra's breath left her as Marco closed in on her, now only a few feet away. His eyes were that of a hungry man, eager to feel his girlfriend in his lips and hands. Astra's breathing deepened, taken aback by how intensely she was being affected by Marco's seductive crawl. He offered no words but stared her down like a tiger would a meal. He was now inches away from her lips, his eyes still locked with hers. He wasn't touching her yet, but he saw her squirm under their closeness, begging for anything. He wanted to tease her a little more, but he remembered Astra's advice. Besides, he was lying if he said he could withhold affection any longer.

Marco smiled confidently as he sat on Astra's legs, bringing a hand up to her cheeks. Her heart marks began to glow a soft pink as she slowly nuzzled into his hand. He leaned in slowly, building the anticipation one last time. He could feel her tension beneath him as he was but a hair's width away from her lips now. After a brief moment of torture, he pressed into her lips gently but firmly. As their lips touched, Marco felt Astra full-body sigh in content, returning Marco's kiss. Marco started gently and sweetly kissing Star in earnest. He rubbed her cheek lovingly, offering as much of a tender embrace as he could while containing himself. This dance of lips was going to be art, and Marco had to be patient to not rush into the ending. He brought his other hand up to her cheek, causing her blush to intensify. He broke the kiss for a moment, catching Astra's heart-shaped irises with his eyes. She appeared drunk with pleasure as he moved his hands to her hair and neck, working his hand slowly under the turtleneck, keeping her gaze.

Astra felt pleasure coursing through her veins as everywhere that Marco touched gave Astra another layer of excitement. His caress was so gentle that she couldn't help but moan a little. She would be embarrassed, but this was Marco, there was no reason to be embarrassed. As he ran his hands through her hair and on the back of her neck, she nearly lost control of herself. She didn't know how Star handled this normally. He heart was nearly beating right out of her chest, her wings flexing unconsciously. Marco sat up off his legs as he brought his lips to the side of her neck, breathing warm air all along the side, right below her ear. Astra shuddered strongly, fluttering her eyes. It was like her skin was set on the most comfortable fire. She relished in the attention Marco was giving her, sighing with content as she felt his warm hands explore freely. She longed for his lips on her though as she pressed forward, silently begging for more.

Marco responded well, giving the desperate alternate princess what she craved. He pushed her onto the ground holding the back of her head. He kissed her deeply, picking up the pace, opting for a more passionate kiss. If she minded about her wings being folded on the ground, she didn't say anything about it. Astra wasn't really saying much of anything as she hungrily kissed Marco as she let her 4 other arms finally show. She grabbed at his tie and ran her hands all along his arms, drinking in the sensation of his skin under her fingertips. She gripped, feeling his lean muscle under her probing arms. She loved how the smooth cotton and polyester dress shirt clung to his biceps, and the way his shoulders filled out the otherwise decently fitting outfit.

Marco, not one to be outdone, redoubled his assault, returning the affection, sending his arms gently down Astra's shoulders, feeling her slender curves beneath his hands. He passionately kissed her, feeling their tongues intertwine and play with each other. He grabbed two of her hands with his and broke the kiss, needing to breathe. His brain was a veritable stew of dopamine as he drank in the way Astra gazed hungrily from below him, her biting her lip and her hair a wild mess as she smiled wide. He sighed contently, noticing the wings were still present. He still had more work to do it seemed. Before he could continue, however, Astra flung Marco off her hips and grabbed him tightly as she flew up to about 20 feet in the air, breathing heavily, a faint orange glow present on her cheeks.

"You've got the magic touch, cinnamon bun," Astra breathily uttered, still drunk of the affection assault. "That was mostly it, but there's only one last thing that I, uh, Star wants." Astra gulped, still nervous.

"More nachos?" Marco joked. Astra smiled as she shook her head.

"Even better," Astra responded, apprehensive. "I want… Star wants you to, uh, do the wing thing again. The whole, massage, thing. It's been on both of our minds since, and I can't take it anymore. We, she, Star can't… take it anymore." Astra sighed, a little ashamed. Marco would probably still do it, but it felt weird to want it so bad.

"Yeah, no problem, cupcake," Marco said, caught up in the moment. Astra gave him a weird look. "What cupcake is no good either? Fine, I'll think of something else…" Marco instantly began his work, reaching his hands around and rubbing right at the base of where Astra's wings began. She instantly clenched 4 arms up on Marco, squashing the air out of his lungs.

"Easy there, hotshot," Astra breathed. "Do that up here and we're both gonna take a nosedive into the hot spring there. Let's do this standing on solid ground." Astra was nervous, and Marco could tell. As she lowered the two of them, he brushed her hair lightly out of her eyes, rubbing her bare shoulder a bit. He offered a reassuring smile, silently telling her not to worry. She set Marco on the ground but still held him tightly. Marco waited for Astra to release him, but no such release came.

"Hey," Marco said softly. "It's gonna be fine. You know you can trust me. I'm good at this." Astra pulled away sighing deeply, looking at Marco.

"I know, of course, it's just… if something, _extra_ magical happens, just be ready, okay?" Astra worriedly mentioned to Marco. "No idea if anything will, just, don't freak out okay?" Marco nodded as Astra turned around, wings shyly fluttering in front of Marco. The skimpiness of her dress was even more obvious now, as she suddenly felt extra exposed, her wings feeling bare and Marco stared at them.

 _These are like works of art, really_ , Marco thought. _I cannot believe that they can be this beautiful._ Marco marveled at the full wings before him, each petal about as big as his entire upper body. Each separate portion had a unique purple dot pattern on it, no portion the same as the other. He couldn't resist anymore and reached his hands toward the tips of the wings. Astra sighed sweetly in front of him, all 6 arms neatly clasped in front of her, holding tightly. Marco started gently, allowing Astra to get used to his pacing. He began at the tips, rubbing them gently between his fingers. He noted the texture was like the smoothest silk pillow cover he'd ever felt. It was impossibly smooth and held almost no friction. He pressed the tips of the wings between both hands and pulled gently outwards, earning a satisfied low hum from Astra. He moved his attention to the middle petals of her wings, starting at the base and running fingers all the way to the tip. As he did, Astra's knees weakened at Marco's touch, and she reached a purple arm back to grab Marco's shirt for support. He smirked and figured he was doing a good job. He kept up his attack on the middle petal, pulling it gently where he willed it. Eventually, he moved on to the separations between the petals, pulling them apart slowly, causing Astra to reach to more hands out to grab Marco's shirt. Her breath stopped short as Marco carefully worked. He ran his hand in between the petals right from the base to the end of the fold incredibly slowly, prying them apart as he worked outwards.

Astra couldn't hold herself up anymore and brought one hand to cover her mouth as she moaned loudly, falling to her knees and dragging Marco down with her. Marco was taken aback slightly, having never heard Star make that kind of noise before. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but clearly, it was good for her. Now sitting down, Marco could more clearly massage her back. He wasn't quite done with her wings yet as he began kissing her wings gently, all around. Star moaned low as she reached one hand back and grabbed Marco's leg. She could barely handle this level of pleasure, but she was not about to let Marco stop now. Her moan had caught her off guard, but now she was back in control. She thought. Marco worked all the folds gently, giving equal love and care to each petal. He decided it was time to give her the massage as he sat back and cracked his knuckles.

He started near her smooth neck, rubbing Star down first, getting a feel for Star's stressed muscled and tense spots. And even though he had just done this last week, she was still very tense. He didn't mind though as he used his thumbs to run over the skin around the base of her wings gently, moving the wings around as needed. Astra sighed continually at his touch, astounded at how a mostly innocent 15-year-old boy could make her feel like this. Her breath was ragged, and her cheeks were flushed. Four hands were in front of her, holding her up, with one hand clutching her heart, which surely should have just exploded by now. Every part of her skin was on fire now, her wings bathed in warm feeling and good touch. She was having a hard time thinking clearly as Marco continued to massage her firmly, working out all her kinks.

Marco began the final part of his routine, going for Star's tense spots with gentle and firm touch. His thumbs found the toughest spots and began circling the muscles. Star's back straightened as she audibly gasped. A buildup of pressure mounted as Marco began working through the incredibly tough tense spot. Astra's eyes watered as she was overwhelmed with physical feeling, Marco finally dissolving the tension. She audibly moaned again, this time with less shame and not into her hand. Her eyes watered as she struggled to bring more air into her brain. She could feel every tiny move Marco made, from the deep, concentrated breaths he was breathing out onto her wings to his two thumbs working expertly across her back and the base of her wings. She wasn't sure how much more she could take, and Marco just kept on relentlessly going. He tackled another tense spot immediately, not giving Astra any time to rest. As Astra's feelings mounted, she could feel some sort of magical surge coming, but was too distracted to know exactly what.

Marco continued through all of Astra's tough spots, noting the moans. He was warming up to it, he had to be honest. There was nothing left to do, but still, the wings stayed. Marco thought for a second before following what his teenage instincts told him to. He crouched low and blew some cool air on the base of the wings, causing Astra to shudder and cast a glance backward. He didn't know how she would change back, but he decided to keep going. He began planting kisses on Star's back, starting at her neck. She reached a hand back and grabbed at his hair.

"Marcooo…" Astra moaned, still feeling the magic there. She wasn't sure when it was going to happen, but she knew it would soon. She felt Marco's soft lips plant kisses down her spine. Her eyes glazed over as she moaned lowly, through her throat. Once he got to the bottom of her back, he raked his fingers down her wings suddenly. Taken by surprise, Astra was immediately overwhelmed with pleasurable feeling. She turned around and grabbed Marco boy the face and body and rocketed up into in the air with him.

Marco noticed Astra's eyes were solid white now, and she pulled him into a strong kiss as they rocketed up through the clouds. It was fierce, passionate, but most of all connected. Marco could feel every emotion that Star felt, and he was overwhelmed with the same waves of pleasure that rolled over Star's body. The two of them achieved a state of mutual transcendence for a few seconds, each sharing the feelings of being both in their own arms and the other's arms. It was enough to overwhelm the two of them as the kiss released rainbow lights like a supernova across the cloud tops.

Once Astra broke the kiss, she smiled dreamily at Marco as they floated down to the island. Marco kept his eyes from closing, but Astra passed out immediately, her wings receding, her purple skin turning to white, and surely her irises returning to their normal. Astra fell asleep peacefully in Marco's arms and Marco leaned against the tree, also letting his eyes close.

* * *

Star awoke to Marco stroking her hair, his face framed against a midnight sky. She felt her head in his lap and her back mysteriously feeling exposed. She didn't really bother worrying about that as she was more excited to see Marco in front of her.

"Marco," Star said sleepily. "What are you doing here? Sneaking into my bed is a big no-no." Marco chuckled, brushing her hair with his hands some more.

"We aren't in your bed Star," Marco lovingly responded. "We're on an island in a hot spring grove in the middle of the High Mountains. Mewberty you took us here." Star blushed, embarrassed that she had went full Mewberty in front of Marco.

"Oh, how long did it take this time?" Star said, not completely following how they got here.

"It's a long story, Star," Marco mumbled, clearly exhausted. "Let's just get you home and we can talk about it in the morning, hm?"

"Or we could stay here for a little bit longer," Star offered. "Your face against a purple night-sky isn't too bad, Marco." Marco smiled in return, kissing Star on the forward.

"Sure," Marco replied, content. "We can both stargaze this way." Marco leaned back on the tree, cradling Star's head in his lap, drinking in this sanguine happiness.


End file.
